The grumpy thread

[Pieman]

1 hour ago, artdjones said:

A load of scientists "researching" in a lab have managed to release a virus that's killed seven million people and wrecked the world economy. And people have lost trust in science.

Cant think why.

It was probably supposed to kill seven billion.

[warch]

2 hours ago, artdjones said:

A load of scientists "researching" in a lab have managed to release a virus that's killed seven million people and wrecked the world economy. And people have lost trust in science.

Cant think why.

I was thinking more terms of the rejection of scientific principles rather than blokes in white coats meddling in things we were not meant to meddle in. 

[iainrcz]

Out in the sticks in Northumberland. Pulled over to let a wooden top past and clipped the kerb.

[iainrcz]

Oh and the eczema on my face is flaring up, so I look a right cunt.

[artdjones]

1 hour ago, warch said:

I was thinking more terms of the rejection of scientific principles rather than blokes in white coats meddling in things we were not meant to meddle in. 

Scientists claim to base what they do on scientific principles. When it turns out that they are just as venal and incompetent as everyone else, the principles they claim to work by get called into question, too. 

Edit:- Plus the scientific establishment spent lots of effort on trying to make everyone think a lab leak was an impossibility. Now most people think the virus did come from a lab. So an awful lot of people have difficulty accepting anything the scientific establishment says, even if it's scientifically impeccable.

 

[Bren]

Won a wrought iron gate on ebay. I was the only bidder.

After paying seller informed me they had given it to the scrap man the previous week.

[chadders]

32 minutes ago, artdjones said:

Scientists claim to base what they do on scientific principles. When it turns out that they are just as venal and incompetent as everyone else, the principles they claim to work by get called into question, too. 

Edit:- Plus the scientific establishment spent lots of effort on trying to make everyone think a lab leak was an impossibility. Now most people think the virus did come from a lab. So an awful lot of people have difficulty accepting anything the scientific establishment says, even if it's scientifically impeccable.

 

My understanding is that it was probably natural rather than man made due to the speed that it mutated. Mind you I was told that by a scientist....

(Who I trust implicitly)

[comfortablynumb]

16 minutes ago, Bren said:

Won a wrought iron gate on ebay. I was the only bidder.

After paying seller informed me they had given it to the scrap man the previous week.

Which is eBay speak for ' it didn't reach what I think it's worth, so it'll be relisted next week ' 🤬

[artdjones]

1 minute ago, chadders said:

My understanding is that it was probably natural rather than man made due to the speed that it mutated. Mind you I was told that by a scientist....

(Who I trust implicitly)

Most observers have difficulty in believing that an outbreak of Coronavirus whose original host was bats started naturally only a few miles from a lab which was a major centre for gain of function research on bat coronaviruses. Which was altering bat coronaviruses to make them much more infectious to humans. And which involved unusual features in the virus that can be added in research labs, but which are quite an unlikely development in nature.

Think about the 2007 foot and mouth outbreak in the UK, which took place close to a foot and mouth research centre. They knew where to look straight away for the leak.

[chadders]

11 minutes ago, artdjones said:

Most observers have difficulty in believing that an outbreak of Coronavirus whose original host was bats started naturally only a few miles from a lab which was a major centre for gain of function research on bat coronaviruses. Which was altering bat coronaviruses to make them much more infectious to humans. And which involved unusual features in the virus that can be added in research labs, but which are quite an unlikely development in nature.

Think about the 2007 foot and mouth outbreak in the UK, which took place close to a foot and mouth research centre. They knew where to look straight away for the leak.

That's your opinion, mine is different.

[warch]

1 hour ago, artdjones said:

Scientists claim to base what they do on scientific principles. When it turns out that they are just as venal and incompetent as everyone else, the principles they claim to work by get called into question, too. 

Edit:- Plus the scientific establishment spent lots of effort on trying to make everyone think a lab leak was an impossibility. Now most people think the virus did come from a lab. So an awful lot of people have difficulty accepting anything the scientific establishment says, even if it's scientifically impeccable.

 

Scientific principles are universal across a number of disciplines, including what I do for a living.

There is no implicit guarantee about the quality of the research/fieldwork or the results. That is why we present our findings and are subject to peer review, so they can be checked and critiqued. Scientific knowledge isn’t fixed or immutable either, it changes constantly as people discover new things or present challenges to existing beliefs.

You don’t have accept anything because someone says it or believes it to be true but we don’t have a better alternative for scientific principles or consensus.
 

 

[horriblemercedes]

10 hours ago, warch said:

I’ve noticed a real rejection of science and reason in favour of conspiracy theories or right wing religious or conservative views. The internet seems to be stuffed full of nationalists, incels, edgelords and trolls these days, to whom reasonable and informed debate is a foreign concept.

I was watching Chris Packham’s superb Earth series and at the end of the one about the Permian extinction event (that went on far longer than and was far more damaging than the K-T extinction that killed the dinosaurs) he makes the point that the earth has seen much worse than the damage we’ve inflicted on it and managed to recover over time. I find that quite comforting really.

I think those people were always around, just years ago their discussions were in pubs, not on the Internet. 

 

My own father was quite like it and a daily pubgoer. If I was ever there with him for some reason, I'd typically hear all sorts of bullshit ideas from his friends and he would sometimes mention something at home that he had heard in the pub. 

 

Wednesday afternoon pub people are a different breed to Friday and Saturday night social drinkers. 

[New POD]

2 hours ago, Bren said:

Won a wrought iron gate on ebay. I was the only bidder.

After paying seller informed me they had given it to the scrap man the previous week.

I laughed, because you couldn't make it up how stupid some people are. 

[High Jetter]

Who decided a 382 bayonet bulb was no longer suitable for indicators? Now I have orange bulbs with offset pins. No, not offset like 380 stop/tail, but same depth and less than 180 degrees. Why?.

[somewhatfoolish]

9 hours ago, Bren said:

Won a wrought iron gate on ebay. I was the only bidder.

After paying seller informed me they had given it to the scrap man the previous week.

Call their bluff and ask which scrapyard.

[EspenO]

10 hours ago, artdjones said:

only a few miles from a lab which was a major centre for gain of function research on bat coronaviruses.

What an illogical place to set up such a facility.

[somewhatfoolish]

How so? The logical locations are co-located with universities that produce research scientists or near centres of population where those scientists might like to live. The whole premise of the quote is illogical and is just fuel for tinfoil nonsense, the poster has decided it's the fault of scientists rather than a totalitarian state with a track record of lying and secrecy.

[Metal Guru]

15 hours ago, horriblemercedes said:

I think those people were always around, just years ago their discussions were in pubs, not on the Internet. 

 

My own father was quite like it and a daily pubgoer. If I was ever there with him for some reason, I'd typically hear all sorts of bullshit ideas from his friends and he would sometimes mention something at home that he had heard in the pub. 

 

Wednesday afternoon pub people are a different breed to Friday and Saturday night social drinkers. 

Historically, Religion has a lot to answer for for putting stupid ideas in people’s mind (above and beyond the obvious imaginary friends).

Scientists have often been at loggerheads with religious leaders , an obvious example being Galileo being ex-communicated and harassed by the Catholic Church for saying the earth weren’t round the sun etc rather than being the centre of the universe.   They didn’t finally admit they were wrong until 1992!

 

[omegod]

18 hours ago, Bren said:

Won a wrought iron gate on ebay. I was the only bidder.

After paying seller informed me they had given it to the scrap man the previous week.

Should be easy for ebay to sort out, basically an "open and shut "case 

 

I'll get my coat 😂

[High Jetter]

18 hours ago, Bren said:

Won a wrought iron gate on ebay. I was the only bidder.

After paying seller informed me they had given it to the scrap man the previous week.

Like the gate, the seller must be un-hinged. (Pass me my coat, omegod)

[Zelandeth]

Dear people of Milton Keynes.

Please get it through your thick skulls that the right turn lane on single carriageway roundabouts is not your own, personal overtaking lane.  Unless otherwise signed, left lane is left & ahead, right lane is for right turning traffic and only right turning traffic.  Dual carriageway, where there are two exiting lanes, go for your life and be as impatient as you like.  But if there's only one lane to exit into, fsck off and wait your turn like everyone else.

If you absolutely MUST do that, at least put your foot down and just bugger off into the distance, don't dawdle and then try to merge into the rear quarter of my car when you've realised that the lane you're trying to drive into doesn't exist because it's occupied by oncoming traffic.  Or more often, barge in front of me...and then drive 15-20mph slower than I would have been driving anyway if the road in front of me was clear.  Or like the guy in the (local) taxi two cars in front of me just now, park blocking the whole road while having an "animated discussion" through the passenger window with the driver of the car he'd cut up and causing traffic to back up all the way round the roundabout.

Given that this place is roundabout central, it never ceases to amaze me on any given day how many people with absolutely do no grasp the most basic concepts of how they work that I encounter.  Replacing "give way to traffic from the right" with "make eye contact then drive in front of you" is probably my favourite one to encounter at least two or three times a week.

Edited September 30, 2024 by Zelandeth
Correcting autocorrect

[comfortablynumb]

I find a scruffy 6 wheel range rover classic and a driver with a ' don't give a shit' attitude, to whom another scratch is easily ' repaired' with yet another can of Matt black solves most of those sorts of problems @Zelandeth.

Apart from the ones who wouldn't see an exploding supernova whilst it burned their retina into the back of their skull.....

[Minimad5]

I've always been fortunate enough to not really get ill. If anything maybe the odd cold, but it pretty much didn't affect me other than a runny nose etc.

This month I've been properly wiped out, no idea what it is but jesus - My head felt like it weighed 2 tonnes, my bones & joints ached, and I had zero energy. Now full of headache, mucous cough and general man-flu.

iIf this is what getting older is like, then I don't like it 😅

[chadders]

31 minutes ago, comfortablynumb said:

I find a scruffy 6 wheel range rover classic and a driver with a ' don't give a shit' attitude, to whom another scratch is easily ' repaired' with yet another can of Matt black solves most of those sorts of problems @Zelandeth.

Apart from the ones who wouldn't see an exploding supernova whilst it burned their retina into the back of their skull.....

When I worked in MK I found having a company car was very useful as there'd always be a spare on site if someone did push you too hard. Most accidents at roundabouts there are likely to be pretty low speed if I remember correctly so not exactly life threatening and anything to overly worry about.

[Zelandeth]

1 hour ago, comfortablynumb said:

I find a scruffy 6 wheel range rover classic and a driver with a ' don't give a shit' attitude, to whom another scratch is easily ' repaired' with yet another can of Matt black solves most of those sorts of problems @Zelandeth.

Apart from the ones who wouldn't see an exploding supernova whilst it burned their retina into the back of their skull.....

A scruffy Rover P4 works too.  Absolutely nobody pissed me about when I was driving this.

I don't think I got cut up once the whole time I owned it to be honest!

The only thing that did occasionally make me roll my eyes was the number of people who blasted past me the moment I merged on the motorway as she did take a bit of time to wind up to speed - only for a minute or two later for me to go howling past them in the outside lane - as she honestly seemed happiest in full juggernaut mode.

While I never really needed to use it in anger, the horn was loud enough to be heard from the far side of the country.  As I discovered on a couple of occasions when I triggered it by breathing on the horn ring on the steering wheel while reversing.  Not sure who I made jump more - myself or anyone in the surrounding area.

[Zelandeth]

34 minutes ago, chadders said:

When I worked in MK I found having a company car was very useful as there'd always be a spare on site if someone did push you too hard. Most accidents at roundabouts there are likely to be pretty low speed if I remember correctly so not exactly life threatening and anything to overly worry about.

I think the one I see the most is where someone has stopped when pulling onto a roundabout and the car behind them hasn't spotted them abort their launch, ending up running into the back of them.

Well, aside from the plethora of crash-for-cash nonsense where someone cuts in front of you on one of the 70mph roads and then slams the anchors on so you pile into the back of them and they pile the blame on you.  I haven't seen anyone trying that lately, but they were absolutely bloody everywhere a year or two back.  Usually a car from 2000-2005 with three people in, and conspicuously no working brake lights you'd see if you were behind them for more than a couple of minutes.  It had got to the stage at one point that I had just automatically started giving any cars from that sort of era an extra wide berth if I saw them on any of the major thoroughfares.

I imagine MK was a bloody gold mine for that type of scam though.  I'm guessing the proliferation of cheap dashcams is probably why it seems to have thankfully largely disappeared.

[EyesWeldedShut]

6 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

I think the one I see the most is where someone has stopped when pulling onto a roundabout and the car behind them hasn't spotted them abort their launch, ending up running into the back of them.

Well, aside from the plethora of crash-for-cash nonsense where someone cuts in front of you on one of the 70mph roads and then slams the anchors on so you pile into the back of them and they pile the blame on you.  I haven't seen anyone trying that lately, but they were absolutely bloody everywhere a year or two back.  Usually a car from 2000-2005 with three people in, and conspicuously no working brake lights you'd see if you were behind them for more than a couple of minutes.  It had got to the stage at one point that I had just automatically started giving any cars from that sort of era an extra wide berth if I saw them on any of the major thoroughfares.

I imagine MK was a bloody gold mine for that type of scam though.  I'm guessing the proliferation of cheap dashcams is probably why it seems to have thankfully largely disappeared.

Someplace on here (about two years ago but I cannot find the post) I moaned about trying to get over the MK roundabouts on the smaller side roads in the Bini - stuff coming across my bows on the dualled (H?) roads was shifting so fast that it was almost impossible to get onto the roundabouts without some degree of danger. 
Those roads were great when I was doing White Arrow around there (1998  ) but they're too wide/open/fast for today's SUV and EVs esp. when the drivers are a bunch of inconsiderate cnuts in a rush for work. As you can tell, I was not enamoured.

Not been back since.

[83C]

Todays (and to be fair, has been for a while) irritation is people who are slow to respond or don’t respond to emails. 

Currently waiting on responses from two potential employers for simple questions, a query over a tool I want to buy and also waiting for responses from two companies whose services I require (one energy and one for storage). I get individual people might be on holiday or whatever but most of these are to generalised inboxes. 

My email address works fine as other people are managing to contact me or respond easily, and I check the spam box every few days. Why is it so hard to just respond to emails? In 3 out of the 5 cases above there isn’t a phone number to use, so unless their primary communication method is carrier pigeon they must want email communications.

[chadders]

I suspect that the more limited visibility of today's tanks has made it worse as well.

13 minutes ago, EyesWeldedShut said:

Someplace on here (about two years ago but I cannot find the post) I moaned about trying to get over the MK roundabouts on the smaller side roads in the Bini - stuff coming across my bows on the dualled (H?) roads was shifting so fast that it was almost impossible to get onto the roundabouts without some degree of danger. 
Those roads were great when I was doing White Arrow around there (1998  ) but they're too wide/open/fast for today's SUV and EVs esp. when the drivers are a bunch of inconsiderate cnuts in a rush for work. As you can tell, I was not enamoured.

Not been back since.

I suspect that the more limited visibility of today's tanks has made it worse as well.

[fairkens]

1 hour ago, Minimad5 said:

I've always been fortunate enough to not really get ill. If anything maybe the odd cold, but it pretty much didn't affect me other than a runny nose etc.

This month I've been properly wiped out, no idea what it is but jesus - My head felt like it weighed 2 tonnes, my bones & joints ached, and I had zero energy. Now full of headache, mucous cough and general man-flu.

iIf this is what getting older is like, then I don't like it 😅

Sounds like covid, my sympathies