The grumpy thread

[reb]

Two minutes of looking:

More expensive than the cheapest one above, sure, but...

Actually pretty comparable.

[comfortablynumb]

But when they have to put instructions on them saying 'Do not fold with child in' ( yes seriously) is there really any hope? 🤦

[beko1987]

My mum and stepdad bought us some massive 4 in 1 pram thing when Eva was born. Was a decent bit of kit to be fair to it, but FUCKING Massive and £700 iirc. Had 4 big full sized bits that clipped into the frame to store. Although the car seat unclipped from a base and into the pram frame which was quite good

We had to swap the corsa C to a Meriva just to fit the folded frame in the boot, and when Eva was a baby it was alright, but after a year and a bit it got so fucking cumbersome a £20 fold up buggy was bought from fb and the pram set went into mums loft. 

Came out again for Charlie, where it lasted about 9 months before we struggled to give the fucker away for free (the pram, not the boy) and another £0  used folding buggy was found. 

 

 

[EyesWeldedShut]

9 hours ago, uk_senator said:

but they just stopped them? Why?!

Bad Euro NCAP, sales plummeted.
 

 

20 minutes ago, beko1987 said:

4 in 1 pram

My parents lucked* out and got twins. Being brassic the family bought them a Silver Cross twin pram.
I reckon you could get a Meriva in the pram?

[EyesWeldedShut]

9 hours ago, uk_senator said:

"Police Woman"

Angie Dickenson, stuff of teenage dreams  

[beko1987]

22 minutes ago, EyesWeldedShut said:

Bad Euro NCAP, sales plummeted.
 

 

My parents lucked* out and got twins. Being brassic the family bought them a Silver Cross twin pram.
I reckon you could get a Meriva in the pram?

That's one of the thing this 4 in 1 turned into. Mahoosive cot thing that clipped into the top, then had to be stored mostly whole when not in use 😂 mostly outgrown in a few months

 

[MVX11V]

21 hours ago, MikeR said:

FFS , are we doomed ....  

Hi, you didn't happen to notice if this was isofix at all did you?

[hairnet]

wanted an extension to a fit note (yeah i know) (still waiting for scan) that ran out friday

i rang them on wednesday to ask

yeah ring back on monday (!)

rang them today and after 10 mins (it wasnt 8am)

asked and they said ring back tomorrow (!) the other note will be backdated (!)

erm....................

drinking tea and listening to popmaster now

[myglaren]

3 hours ago, EyesWeldedShut said:

Bad Euro NCAP, sales plummeted.
 

 

My parents lucked* out and got twins. Being brassic the family bought them a Silver Cross twin pram.
I reckon you could get a Meriva in the pram?

I don't recall how much we paid for buggies but not an awful lot.  Last one would have been 1984.

We did buy a Silver Cross pushchair similar to the one above, but a single one.  Well made and folded up nicely, twenty quid in Selfridges (1976), lasted quite a while.

[Metal Guru]

1 minute ago, myglaren said:

I don't recall how much we paid for buggies but not an awful lot.  Last one would have been 1984.

We did buy a Silver Cross pushchair similar to the one above, but a single one.  Well made and folded up nicely, twenty quid in Selfridges (1976), lasted quite a while.

I bought  a jogging buggy on a trip to the States back in the 90s. They were fashionable with Hollywood celebs at the time. It had an aluminium frame so was ultra light ( even got it home without paying excess baggage) with bike wheels that I clipped on/off seconds. Paid $200 (£150 at the time) . Took it into the  Tiso shop in Edinburgh, and they said it was way better than the ones they were selling for £500+. Eventually sold it in for more than I paid for it even after a lot of off road use.

Only down side was people kept stopping you and  asking where you got it etc.

[EyesWeldedShut]

14 minutes ago, myglaren said:

We did buy a Silver Cross pushchair similar to the one above, but a single one.  Well made and folded up nicely, twenty quid in Selfridges (1976), lasted quite a while.

Did you have the optional 'toddler' seat? My aunt had one - you stuck it over the sides where the baby's feet were, plonked your toddler on, strapped 'em in - and off you went. Even as kid it struck me as an oversprung, top heavy design but I guess if you stuck a hundredweight of spuds in the rack between the axles it would have been just fine.
Bloody things were so big that the mums would park them outside the high street shops and go in to get their groceries. Nobody nicked them or the kids.

My parents also had one of these Silver Cross things that folded up  - following a car related incident that put my dad in hospital,  it fell apart - the 8" or 10" wheels on the wide axles made the best bogie (soapcart) as it would go round corners that big Silver Cross wheeled carts would turnover on. Ask my brother - he broke a few bones chasing me down in the bigger one
  

[myglaren]

9 minutes ago, EyesWeldedShut said:

Did you have the optional 'toddler' seat? My aunt had one - you stuck it over the sides where the baby's feet were, plonked your toddler on, strapped 'em in - and off you went.

Quite possibly.  It does sound familiar.

If only my wife were still here, she would remember.

[Stanky]

Ultimate practicality here:

A Quinny Longboard Stroller. Also means you can do this

[Metal Guru]

22 minutes ago, Stanky said:

Ultimate practicality here:

A Quinny Longboard Stroller. Also means you can do this

WCPGW?

[108]

2 hours ago, Metal Guru said:

WCPGW?

Only once though. 
you would be thoroughly battered to death by her indoors before getting a second chance. 

[Wibble]

Just as things are going so well*, the fucking washing machine has packed up. Fuck everything!

[kevins]

On 02/03/2025 at 16:38, New POD said:

I take it that mx5 is a Eunos ? Did UK spec cars have Aircon ? 

yes it is and you can't get a condensor etc , hence modifying it to take off the shelf parts.

[High Jetter]

2 hours ago, Wibble said:

Just as things are going so well*, the fucking washing machine has packed up. Fuck everything!

It's not a conspiracy. Break it down, individual issues. What's gone awry with it?

[Wibble]

58 minutes ago, High Jetter said:

It's not a conspiracy. Break it down, individual issues. What's gone awry with it?

I know, I’m just fucked off with everything. It won’t spin, so everything is saturated. It will drain but won’t spin when you put it on drain and spin.

[EyesWeldedShut]

Read this on the Beeb just now:

So I'm grumpy for one of two reasons:
1) I'm so out of touch that I do not know the hip expression 'clapped back' or
2) More US English creeping in?

I thinks it is (2)

[High Jetter]

8 hours ago, Wibble said:

I know, I’m just fucked off with everything. It won’t spin, so everything is saturated. It will drain but won’t spin when you put it on drain and spin.

Might be worth googling the make & model No. of the machine followed by 'won't spin'. Could be that whatever sensor tells the 'brain' that it's drained enough isn't doing it's job, or maybe it isn't draining enough to lower the water level sufficiently, perhaps due to a blockage. Otherwise it's a motor or motor control issue I guess.

[Surface Rust]

8 hours ago, Wibble said:

I know, I’m just fucked off with everything. It won’t spin, so everything is saturated. It will drain but won’t spin when you put it on drain and spin.

If the drums not turning at all it might be the motor brushes. I had exactly this fault a few weeks ago and one of the brushes was worn right down. I was able to stretch out the spring to get the machine running temporarily before fitting some £6 brushes.

I consulted the hive mind on here and it's apparently not that uncommon.

[chadders]

1 hour ago, EyesWeldedShut said:

Read this on the Beeb just now:

So I'm grumpy for one of two reasons:
1) I'm so out of touch that I do not know the hip expression 'clapped back' or
2) More US English creeping in?

I thinks it is (2)

So much for RP and the days of them using English English.

[Wibble]

8 hours ago, Surface Rust said:

If the drums not turning at all it might be the motor brushes. I had exactly this fault a few weeks ago and one of the brushes was worn right down. I was able to stretch out the spring to get the machine running temporarily before fitting some £6 brushes.

I consulted the hive mind on here and it's apparently not that uncommon.

Thanks and @High Jetter. It’s not the brushes, unfortunately, they are in good shape. Found out how to put it in test mode and it’s throwing a code for motor issue, which could also be the pcb. Having see the cost of a motor, it’s going to the tip and I’ll have to buy a new machine.

[artdjones]

2 minutes ago, Wibble said:

Thanks and @High Jetter. It’s not the brushes, unfortunately, they are in good shape. Found out how to put it in test mode and it’s throwing a code for motor issue, which could also be the pcb. Having see the cost of a motor, it’s going to the tip and I’ll have to buy a new machine.

Sounds like a day I had a couple of years ago. I found out some building work I'd been expecting to have done was to be put off for several months. Then, I took some friends who were moving country to the bus for Dublin airport. Unfortunately there was a huge traffic jam on the way meaning we missed it by 5 minutes. I got home, where my wife told me that some water was leaking from the C/H boiler. That turned out to be terminal corrosion in the boiler itself. Finally, an hour later the kettle expired.

[andyberg]

Managed to get my son his driving test booked, in August, in Newport!!!! FFS😡😡

We live south of Bristol!! We both went online at 6am on Monday, the time and day the DVLA release new dates. We joined 18000 and 16000 in the queue! By the time we got to the front over an hour later all tests in Bristol had gone. This is every week we have been trying. Bloody country is broken. 

[Cookiesouwest]

37 minutes ago, andyberg said:

Managed to get my son his driving test booked, in August, in Newport!!!! FFS😡😡

We live south of Bristol!! We both went online at 6am on Monday, the time and day the DVLA release new dates. We joined 18000 and 16000 in the queue! By the time we got to the front over an hour later all tests in Bristol had gone. This is every week we have been trying. Bloody country is broken. 

But at least he has a test booked now. Makes it easier to get a cancellation.

[Sunny Jim]

Fiddlesticks, that's sub-optimal.

OSF spring on the C15 has let go.

[andyberg]

8 minutes ago, Cookiesouwest said:

But at least he has a test booked now. Makes it easier to get a cancellation.

True

[Metal Guru]

7 hours ago, andyberg said:

Managed to get my son his driving test booked, in August, in Newport!!!! FFS😡😡

We live south of Bristol!! We both went online at 6am on Monday, the time and day the DVLA release new dates. We joined 18000 and 16000 in the queue! By the time we got to the front over an hour later all tests in Bristol had gone. This is every week we have been trying. Bloody country is broken. 

6 months? Roughly the same as when I was learning in 1979. Driving school told us to book a test after the first lesson.