The grumpy thread

[Lord Sterling]

Fucking closing roads here and there....

Jumped in the Vectra tonight to go to work. I've little petrol in it and left it low intentionally as I'll fill up in the weekend. Where I park the Vectra and S-Type is on a road at the end of the little town I live in. Turn right and you'll be heading back into the centre of town, turn left takes you on a windey road to the next town. 

The turn to the right now has roadworks with a big hole dug out and a load of soil deposited in the middle of the road, so unpassable. No issues for me as I often turn left to go to the next town and eventually on to my place of work.

Of course, I get halfway down the windey road to see the road is blocked off by Police.

Now, I can't go back to town because the road is blocked off by roadworks, neither can I go back to the road where I parked by the river as that's a one-way. So there is now only one other road out. I've only ever twice been this way and it takes you across a ford (small stream, not the blue oval type). Normally my journey to the next town is about 7 minutes.

10 minutes into my journey, I'm still in the middle of nowhere in what seems like miles and miles and of single-track countryside roads, my fuel is running even lower and I barely know where the hell I am. Thankfully I eventually come across another road and I'm able to get off this seemingly forever single-track road back to civilisation. Its taken me 10-15 minutes and I'm still only entering the next town. I eventually get to work, just on time with my fuel light flashing. Brill.

[Metal Guru]

8 hours ago, comfortablynumb said:

QE hospital in kings Lynn is as bad, they've actively fenced off all the grassed areas to stop people parking on them.

How about you spend the money on creating more parking spaces, then people won't have to.

It's now at the stage that even with a blue badge, you've got to get in the carpark an hour before your appointment, in order to get parked 🙄

I think it’s pretty much anywhere. I’ve not seen a hospital where parking was easy to find on a weekday 9-5.
If you arrive near a shift change it’s worse as there’s double the number of staff cars parked. 
TBF they can’t really win with providing extra parking. Build a car park and it’s  “could have spent that on cancer, heart patients etc”, let a private company in and we get ripped off at a bad time in most people’s lives, but spending money to stop people parking as above is indefensible.

[comfortablynumb]

The two hospitals we have to use regularly, king's Lynn is terrible, as above, and they're 'supposed' to be building the new hospital on that main carpark, so guess how that's going to go.

The other, Addenbrookes, has just set fire to its multi storey carpark, so it's been out of action, there was something like 400 cars stuck in it, so you can guess how that's going..😕

Apparently it's now reopened at reduced capacity, but repairs are going to take six months.

[cort16]

I had to make a rare trip to London yesterday in full buzinez attire.  I put the shoes on I normally put on for such trips and did notice they seemed a bit tight when I put them on on.  I drove to the airport and by the time I got through security the back of my heels had been completely annihilated by the shoes,.  I bought some plasters from boots and stuck them while on the plane (I bet you're glad you weren't sitting next to me) and it helped slightly but it was extremely painful to walk. Luckily we had a hire car so didn't have to walk far, had our meeting then headed back to the airport, where i had to walk quite a lot and it hurt even more.  I eventually had to concede and went to JD sports at the airport and bought some crocs they had in the sale to go for for the suit and crocs homeless look.  I can't tell you how good it felt to put those crocs on. I'm going to ceremonially burn those other fucking shoes this afternoon. Who'd have thought your feet can get fatter?

[chadders]

2 hours ago, comfortablynumb said:

The two hospitals we have to use regularly, king's Lynn is terrible, as above, and they're 'supposed' to be building the new hospital on that main carpark, so guess how that's going to go.

The other, Addenbrookes, has just set fire to its multi storey carpark, so it's been out of action, there was something like 400 cars stuck in it, so you can guess how that's going..😕

Apparently it's now reopened at reduced capacity, but repairs are going to take six months.

Norfolk and Norwich is pretty good, we've been there a few times recently varying from before 7am to after 9pm and had no problems parking.

The only downside we've found is that if you're having an op they say to be there by 7am but they don't open the doors until exactly that, so you've got a crowd of ill people trying to shelter from the rain and cold outside.

[Metal Guru]

25 minutes ago, chadders said:

Norfolk and Norwich is pretty good, we've been there a few times recently varying from before 7am to after 9pm and had no problems parking.

The only downside we've found is that if you're having an op they say to be there by 7am but they don't open the doors until exactly that, so you've got a crowd of ill people trying to shelter from the rain and cold outside.

Another problem at our local hospital is although parking is free (assuming you can park), it has a 4 hour limit. Handy when they take 3hrs 59 min in A&E to even see you.

[MikeR]

the mobile gardener is out next door but one ,

he comes every week , every season , even now he is mowing the grass , petrol mower , then a sweep up ..

must be a good number at that house..

[Markeh]

Parking is a bloody nightmare at both of Nottingham's hospitals. City, you've got no chance, you basically have to use public transport or park and ride to get there, fortunately there are dedicated services. QMC's not much better, I've been visiting a lot the last week or so - one of the visitor car parks has been roughly divided in two to provide an extra staff car park, so you have a long road going up to a visitor section - when you get to the barrier, there's meant to be a small turning to allow you to access the rest of the car park - some bright spark has put a sodding metal barrier across it, so if you go down there and don't realise your only option is to leave and go around the entire building and re-enter said car park, you end up reversing back up a couple of hundred yards like a tit. Upon arriving at the ward to visit my mate, her mother informed me she'd done the same thing at least!

[Spiny Norman]

5 hours ago, cort16 said:

 Who'd have thought your feet can get fatter?

My plates have gone up a size over the last few years. Mind you, so has my shirt size...

[cobblers]

5 hours ago, cort16 said:

 I put the shoes on I normally put on for such trips and did notice they seemed a bit tight when I put them on on.  I drove to the airport and by the time I got through security the back of my heels had been completely annihilated by the shoes,

Yup, I've got a pair of fancy Trickers boots that my wife bought me for my 30th. They used to fit quite well. Nowadays I have a few other pairs of smart boots and shoes so I wear them less and less.

I wore them for my 40th and they absolutely crush my toes, I had to take one of them off under the table in the restaurant. Sadly I think I'll have to get her to put them on Vinted. 

[artdjones]

14 hours ago, Metal Guru said:

Build a car park and it’s  “could have spent that on cancer, heart patients etc”

Nobody ever says 'let's not pay the consultants on £150k pa a pay rise this year, and spend the money on cancer treatment instead.'

It's bad enough having to use a hospital in the first place, and ensuring it's less miserable to use isn't a waste of money. 

[artdjones]

5 minutes ago, cobblers said:

Yup, I've got a pair of fancy Trickers boots that my wife bought me for my 30th. They used to fit quite well. Nowadays I have a few other pairs of smart boots and shoes so I wear them less and less.

I wore them for my 40th and they absolutely crush my toes, I had to take one of them off under the table in the restaurant. Sadly I think I'll have to get her to put them on Vinted. 

Leather can shrink especially, if it gets wet, then doesn't get dried in a controlled way.

Shoe stretching devices are available.

[cobblers]

Just now, artdjones said:

Leather can shrink especially, if it gets wet, then doesn't get dried in a controlled way.

Shoe stretching devices are available.

Aye, they've been well stored and looked after, I don't think they will have shrank. They're currently sat with one of those stretchers in the right boot, but I'm not hopeful they will move as far as I need. I was in agony!

[artdjones]

12 minutes ago, cobblers said:

Aye, they've been well stored and looked after, I don't think they will have shrank. They're currently sat with one of those stretchers in the right boot, but I'm not hopeful they will move as far as I need. I was in agony!

It's awful, I had a new set of Clarks shoes that had seemed to fit ok in the shop. I had a couple of days wearing them in Lisbon, where all the pavements are uneven cobblestones, and it was nasty. I also had to take copious amounts of Ibuprofen because my agonised gait did something to my back.

When I got home, they were donated to a friend who has been wearing them in perfect comfort ever since.

[cort16]

22 minutes ago, cobblers said:

Yup, I've got a pair of fancy Trickers boots that my wife bought me for my 30th. They used to fit quite well. Nowadays I have a few other pairs of smart boots and shoes so I wear them less and less.

I wore them for my 40th and they absolutely crush my toes, I had to take one of them off under the table in the restaurant. Sadly I think I'll have to get her to put them on Vinted. 

I got these shoes off vinted it must be the place to offload torture shoes.

[robt100]

15 year anniversary today, "why is this in the grumpy thread Rob, she isn't that bad!" I hear you say.

Well, initial plan was a day and meal out today, plus a couple of evenings planned with friends friday and saturday.....

But now we both have a cold/flu/covid, so sat indoors feeling half dead. To top it off, no food in the house as we had planned to only be home 1 day of the next 4. Then the icing on the cake, no money either, first week of the year weather was too bad (self employed so no pay) and had  2weeks not working over christmas. And now down with this and next week is looking unworkable too. Can't even use the time to get out and finish fixing the cars as I feel like death warmed up.

[Imhotep]

I’m now on an enforced break from social media because apparently I’m not human. Maybe @loserone was right, I am invisible because I’m just 0s and 1s.

 

[loserone]

7 minutes ago, Imhotep said:

I am invisible

Jean is shorter than Brutus but taller than Imhotep. Imhotep is taller than Jean, but shorter than Lord Scotland. Lord Scotland is twice the height of Jean and Brutus combined but only one-tenth of the height of Millsy. Millsy is at a constant height of x − y. If Jean stands exactly one nautical mile away from Lord Scotland, how tall is Imhotep?

 

Through the application of maths, a solution can be arrived at. The answer is that @Imhotep is invisible.

[High Jetter]

22 minutes ago, loserone said:

Through the application of maths, a solution can be arrived at. The answer is that @Imhotep is invisible.

Yup, I can't see him either. 😀

[Alusilber]

The latest version of my favourite DVLA lookup app is now displaying all reg numbers  for vehicles registered before 1980 in the form of a black number plate, and it’s made me quite annoyed. I know it’s now legal for black plate fetishists to put them on cars registered up to 1980, but there’s no need to promote this nonsense in an app!

[IronStar]

Previously leaking antenna on Bravo, left even more annoying casualty than killing remote central locking. Something inside is still very wet, and it’s steaming up like crazy. AC can’t overwhelm the amount of fog generated in minutes.

I bought one of those moisture wicking tablets, but I’m now thinking that it’s not enough, and need to take it somewhere for proper dehumidification session. I would buy a dehumidifier, but there’s nowhere to plug it in the garage. 

[Wibble]

Try and introduce rapid air movement, as well as dehumidification, it massively speeds up the drying, as it increases the rate of evaporation.

[IronStar]

6 minutes ago, Wibble said:

Try and introduce rapid air movement, as well as dehumidification, it massively speeds up the drying, as it increases the rate of evaporation.

Heater+AC on max, windows down kind?

[IronStar]

8 minutes ago, CGSB said:

How thick is the insulation under the carpet on those?

The StreetKa I got off here was leaky, but had been in a dry garage for a few months before I bought it. When I ripped the interior out I could wring out the insulation which was still soaking.

Probably similar thickness to that. That’s why I’m thinking professional dehumidifier is the way.

[Zelandeth]

6 minutes ago, IronStar said:

Probably similar thickness to that. That’s why I’m thinking professional dehumidifier is the way.

Even then it will take absolutely forever to dry out properly.  There's so much sound deadening in a modern car like like this the only reasonable way to get it dry is to take the carpets and everything under them out.  Otherwise it will take forever.  You'll keep thinking it's dry because it seems it - but then left a few hours more water will just wick to the formerly dry surface.

Probably still want proper dehumidification in the car as the seats etc will hold onto a surprising amount of damp too.

[Wibble]

42 minutes ago, IronStar said:

Heater+AC on max, windows down kind?

No, when you said you were taking it somewhere, I thought a pro. Definitely seats and carpets out, dehumidifier and air mover in the car. Tent up and do the same with interior.

We dried out a flooded Rolls Royce Corniche once!

[IronStar]

Thanks for the input guys! @Wibble @Zelandeth @CGSB

Some context needed I think

I park in a shared garage that’s not even in the building I live in. 

I can’t exactly rip apart the car and leave it there. Even if I did get the carpet and insulation out and pushed the car back in, I have nowhere to go with it. I live in a smalish flat with no proper place to put XXm2 of carpet and insulation to dry.

Professional option I could get is take it to a detailing place and ask them to run drying octopus machine for a while after they finish the (overdue) interior wash. 

Otherwise it has to wait until spring/summer, and me getting access to someone’s house with a yard where I can dump it for a day or two and leave it to air dry

Anything I can do given these very limited options?

[Wibble]

Leaving all four windows open a bit to allow moisture to escape is your only option for now, I think, plus disabling any alarm that might be triggered by windows open/air movement. I’d chuck some of these in too

 

[IronStar]

15 minutes ago, Wibble said:

Leaving all four windows open a bit to allow moisture to escape is your only option for now, I think, plus disabling any alarm that might be triggered by windows open/air movement. I’d chuck some of these in too

 

Thanks, I got one today, but I’ll get a few more and toss the in the various bits of the car.
Would taking the car to a get deep cleaned, tell them I had a leak and ask them to run dryer longer than they usually would noticably help?

[Wibble]

14 minutes ago, IronStar said:

Thanks, I got one today, but I’ll get a few more and toss the in the various bits of the car.
Would taking the car to a get deep cleaned, tell them I had a leak and ask them to run dryer longer than they usually would noticably help?

Yes, if they’re using vacuum extraction for carpets and upholstery.