The grumpy thread

[horriblemercedes]

8 hours ago, Zelandeth said:

, AC which lets me chill the room to a couple of degrees above absolute zero .

That is strong air con and you must be tougher than me

-271 degrees C is impressive! 

[Cavcraft]

Dave_Lee_Cartland isn't well at all, we think he might have had a couple of mini strokes. He's been to the vets and had blood tests, neither of which really revealed very much, so we hoped he'd just get better and yesterday he was ok. This morning he's had another set back, not as bad as the first one he had, but he's getting more confused, unsettled and lost looking

 

 

 

[Dyslexic Viking]

Properly burned the hand on a heat gun, this is the second time, I hate heat guns.

So left with one working hand now.

[vulgalour]

On 11/10/2024 at 20:11, Chas4545 said:

Get the nhs app on your phone and you will be able to see blood test results etc.  The nice thing about blood tests is they are either in  or out of the nhs limits. If they are out , theres the problem.  Good luck with it.

So er... yeah, I decided to give that a go right up until it wanted a scan of my ID and a photo of my face.  It's easier just to go into the surgery, or call, than trying to get my phone to believe my face is a face.

[maxxo]

So I moved into this flat about 3 weeks ago

new couple moved in underneath a week or so ago

constant drugs fighting on the stairway and now threatened me as I dared to make a noise during the day and they’ve set the bins alight

so yeah

fucking this place off and viewing loads of houses to rent this week

ill somehow find a way to afford the deposit

[loserone]

8 minutes ago, maxxo said:

drugs fighting

What is this? 

9 minutes ago, maxxo said:

threatened me

 

9 minutes ago, maxxo said:

set the bins alight

These need calling out to the council if it's a council flat.  

[maxxo]

12 minutes ago, loserone said:

What is this? 

 

These need calling out to the council if it's a council flat.  

No idea if it’s council or not tbh

[Zelandeth]

15 minutes ago, maxxo said:

No idea if it’s council or not tbh

Either way, if there's council housing in the block, they as a landlord should be made aware that nonsense like this is going on. Last thing they need is to be putting someone vulnerable into accomodation in a setting like that.

[maxxo]

Viewing another house at 5, honesrly I’ve decided to just go for somewhere else, then I can have family over without them struggling up the stairs and stuff

i want to live somewhere I can be proud of but I really feel quite ashamed whenever people come over

[High Jetter]

Combo van failed MOT today, pads all round, they advised discs too, and headlamp level motor N/S. Apparently, that means a complete headlamp assembly? 

[artdjones]

15 minutes ago, High Jetter said:

Combo van failed MOT today, pads all round, they advised discs too, and headlamp level motor N/S. Apparently, that means a complete headlamp assembly? 

If it's a Combo C, the pre 2010 model I think they're available, if it's the 2011 Doblo clone, I'm not sure.

[IronStar]

Mini's exhaust, which I thought was fixed to at least not rattle is hitting the bodyshell again as it seems that the hanger snapped, and the exhaust mount starts making slipping belt noises(?!) after an hour or so of engine running. Back to the shop it goes tomorrow. 

[Metal Guru]

Second wrecked unrepairable  tyre this year. Sharp stone (mini obelisk) gone right through . Could put your finger through the hole! 150 miles from home with no spare. Thank* you BMW for a useless can of air and a pump.
Thanks to Halfords Stranraer for quick service even though they relieved me of £150. 
Going to buy a proper spare off eBay tomorrow.

 

[High Jetter]

1 hour ago, artdjones said:

If it's a Combo C, the pre 2010 model I think they're available, if it's the 2011 Doblo clone, I'm not sure.

It's on an 11 plate, same shape as earlier years

[artdjones]

1 hour ago, High Jetter said:

It's on an 11 plate, same shape as earlier years

I think they can be got then.

[High Jetter]

13 minutes ago, artdjones said:

I think they can be got then.

Thanks. I've had a quick search and I think you're right, though it depends on which make of lamp is fitted.

[Remspoor]

On 16/10/2024 at 18:30, Zelandeth said:

Bloody profiteering hotels...

Kind of as expected I didn't make it through the lottery for residential places at a convention I'll be going to in May.  This isn't really a surprise as there are only a handful of single rooms and they're oversubscribed in terms of room demand overall by four or five times. 

Stayed at the Novotel at Birmingham Airport last year, was £582 for Thursday through Tuesday including breakfast.  I like that hotel so it would have been my first choice this year - except for them having hiked the price to nearly £900.  How about no.  The nearest hotel to the event is the Moxy, though that's always bloody expensive.  Yeah, they're after £1205 plus breakfast...I don't think so.  That's £20 short of double they're asking for the same room 7 days before. 

Fine, I'll go and bash my head against the various hotel comparison sites this evening when I've got enough time and am sitting at a proper computer. 

Surge pricing really has to be one of the most annoying concepts in existence.  If I ran a hotel the price on the door per room per night would be the price per room, per night irrespective of if we had one booking or 100 bookings. 

Yes, it would be per bloody room not per person per room as well.  That hacks me off royally as well, the cost difference to them to service the room is virtually nothing irrespective of whether I'm on my own or with my husband, so why should I need to pay damned near double the cost at a lot of hotels for the same bloody room if we're both there?!?  Oh, yeah...because they can get away with it and it makes them more money.  Right, of course.  Vast majority of the times I'm in a hotel these days it's because I've gone off gallivanting on my own anyway so it's not a huge issue, but I still run into it often enough that it hacks me off sufficiently that it sticks in my memory.

There are one or two issues that maybe increasing prices. One is dynamic pricing. Even airbnbs can use this. There are website tools that allow any entrepreneur* to work like the big guys. Here is an example.  https://www.beyondpricing.com/

 

Have you thought about renting a small camper and looking at this sort of website to find your free camping spot?  https://park4night.com/en

There are other similar websites.

[Zelandeth]

42 minutes ago, Remspoor said:

There are one or two issues that maybe increasing prices. One is dynamic pricing. Even airbnbs can use this. There are website tools that allow any entrepreneur* to work like the big guys. Here is an example.  https://www.beyondpricing.com/

 

Have you thought about renting a small camper and looking at this sort of website to find your free camping spot?  https://park4night.com/en

There are other similar websites.

Given the only site listed within the sort of distance I'd be considering for this is a layby on the A446 (which is still going to be a taxi trip away), think I'll stick to a hotel, thanks.  

To be fair, something like this isn't really set up for attending an event at major venues.  Sure if I was just going on holiday somewhere it would have the potential to be far more useful.

£416 for a site that's within a stone's throw of the NEC during the weekend where there's an event on that's pulling in the best part of 3,000 people isn't really too bad.  It's the ones trying to make a grab for the best part of a grand when it would normally be £2-300 that hack me off.

[junkyarddog]

Gave my old Mondeo a much needed wash and brush up today.

Half an hour later...........

Why do I fucking bother!!🙄

[LightBulbFun]

making my evening hot chocolate I finish a currently open can, so I go to the stack of them we got in a most recent Morrisons order, open one and its mouldy?! turns out they all are! I am mostly sitting here going how?! its drinking chocolate mostly coco powder, how how earth has it gone mouldy and why? given its supposed to be pretty fresh, a complaint has been sent to Morrisons, be interesting to see how they respond

its a bit concerning that they all are mouldy, because what if others that have gone to other customers are also mouldy?

[somewhatfoolish]

Is it actual mould? Chocolate blooms if exposed to temperature fluctuations but it's harmless, could this be similar?

[LightBulbFun]

46 minutes ago, somewhatfoolish said:

Is it actual mould? Chocolate blooms if exposed to temperature fluctuations but it's harmless, could this be similar?

thats a fair point, tho I cant say I have ever seen hot chocolate bloom like this before?

this looked suspiciously fluffy if that makes sense? and also critically for me, it did not smell like it should, it smelled more like rosin core soldering flux then it did chocolate powder if that makes sense!

[Dyslexic Viking]

3 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

thats a fair point, tho I cant say I have ever seen hot chocolate bloom like this before?

this looked suspiciously fluffy if that makes sense? and also critically for me, it did not smell like it should, it smelled more like rosin core soldering flux then it did chocolate powder if that makes sense!

I too would have found this strange and would not have consumed this. 

[Lord Sterling]

You know when simple things are more overcomplicated than it should be? Well, that's the story of my life...

I need to use the Jag today but when I last used it, I didn't put any petrol in it (I was ill and penniless due to a sick week off work) and just starting it up every now and again over the last few weeks hasn't helped. So I'd got drips of petrol left in the tank and I want to move it and put my Vectra in it's place, OK, no problem, let me just get some fuel from somewhere, fill it and away we go. This should take maximum 20 mins.

The nearest petrol station is actually 0.3 miles away across the bridge, but of course here's the first hurdle, the bridge is closed in one direction from where I am to the petrol station, so in order to get there, I need to do a 4.1 mile detour up a hill and down a bypass then through a small local road to get to the petrol station, I didn't fancy taking chances of running out of fuel, so, I took the Vectra to the petrol station to purchase a fuel can, as my one that I kept in the storage downstairs has disappeared 🤨

First petrol station then claim that they've "sold out, sorry mayte" 😠

So I go next petrol station in the next town and finally manage to buy a petrol can and get some petrol into it. I'm surprised at this as usually for me it's 2 or 3 places that don't have what I need before I either give up or find somewhere that does sell what I need.

I eventually get back to the Jag, at the point it's like 6.45am where I started at 6am. I get to the Jag and bash the fuel into it. Wherenits parked is a service road to some other flats and the rear of some businesses so it's a little tight. I managed to get fuel in the Jag and swap parking spaces, but then as I park up the Vectra, some random person is looking to leave as the Jag is blocking the exit. So I jump in the Jag and off I go to the fuel station now there is enough to get there, but wait, I forgot the petrol can on the wall, great. I top up the petrol in the Jag to use it today and go back, thankfully the can is still there and I chuck it in the back of the Vectra.

This has now all taken me a whole hour to do. And I need to swap the cars over several times later as I need the Jag today, Vectra tomorrow then Jag (possibly) on Sunday. I wish I had a drive or at least my own parking space. 😕

[Lord Sterling]

15 hours ago, Metal Guru said:

Second wrecked unrepairable  tyre this year. Sharp stone (mini obelisk) gone right through . Could put your finger through the hole! 150 miles from home with no spare. Thank* you BMW for a useless can of air and a pump.
Thanks to Halfords Stranraer for quick service even though they relieved me of £150. 
Going to buy a proper spare off eBay tomorrow.

I just don't get why manufacturers don't include spares these days in their cars, a can of tyre splat and a pump isn't gonna help when your tyre has a hole the size of the Bermuda triangle. (Usually caused by poorly maintained road, sharp stones/nails/bolts/other detritus.

[EyesWeldedShut]

2 minutes ago, Lord Sterling said:

I just don't get why manufacturers don't include spares these days in their cars, a can of tyre splat and a pump isn't gonna help when your tyre has a hole the size of the Bermuda triangle. (Usually caused by poorly maintained road, sharp stones/nails/bolts/other detritus.

£££ profit and a miniscule improvement in MPG possibly?

[Metal Guru]

39 minutes ago, Lord Sterling said:

I just don't get why manufacturers don't include spares these days in their cars, a can of tyre splat and a pump isn't gonna help when your tyre has a hole the size of the Bermuda triangle. (Usually caused by poorly maintained road, sharp stones/nails/bolts/other detritus.

The thing is, if you use the sealant , the tyre is unrepairable regardless of puncture size. (I have been told this by three different tyre places. Maybe it’s BS and they tell you to sell more tyres).

Which is ironic, because the sealant will probably only work if it’s a small repairable puncture anyway.

One argument for not supplying spares is often they never get used and wheel plus tyre is around £250 new, a massive amount to save per car if you’re churning out a million or so. With the size of wheels on new cars especially EVs , getting ever bigger, I can’t see this changing. Plus EVs have less room for a spare than ICEs due to battery space.

My other car is 20 years old, has an unused (space saver) spare.

[Merryck]

1 hour ago, Lord Sterling said:

You know when simple things are more overcomplicated than it should be? Well, that's the story of my life...

Preaching to the choir. The thing that really gets me is how irrelevant it all sounds.

"I needed to fuel up my Jag before I used it today and it took longer than it should have" just doesn't convey what's actually involved, and if you explain it in detail like you have people either think you're being ridiculous or just don't want to listen. So you just have to suck it up and muddle through as best as you can.

I showed this to my wife to try and explain how it is sometimes. I still don't think she understood.

[maxxo]

Regarding spares

my XM 31 years old the spare was completely unused and original until a few months ago when I got a puncture and had to use it for a short while

i sort of understand in a way why they don’t include them, but then again maybe it’s just bad luck but 3 times on 3 different cars I’ve had to use the spare

then again could half the people these days even change a wheel?

[Metal Guru]

1 hour ago, maxxo said:

Regarding spares

my XM 31 years old the spare was completely unused and original until a few months ago when I got a puncture and had to use it for a short while

i sort of understand in a way why they don’t include them, but then again maybe it’s just bad luck but 3 times on 3 different cars I’ve had to use the spare

then again could half the people these days even change a wheel?

Even if you can’t change the wheel yourself, you can still be on your way fairly quickly if you have a serviceable spare (AA etc or any garage). I was left with no option other than buying the only tyre they had in the right size (not matching a particular bug bear of mine) at whatever price they asked. Luckily they had one that fitted in stock, I had this happen before and spent 3 hours waiting for the right tyre to come from another branch.