The grumpy thread

[Pieman]

I know the football hooligans had their usual riot earlier, have they taken it a step further than normal and set the city on fire?

[chaseracer]

Checking @davidfowler2000 is safe and well?  He works out of Central.

[artdjones]

1 hour ago, Pieman said:

I know the football hooligans had their usual riot earlier, have they taken it a step further than normal and set the city on fire?

There's some thought it started in a vape shop. 

[Spiny Norman]

22 minutes ago, artdjones said:

There's some thought it started in a vape shop. 

I did wonder if one of the green-v-blue morons had initiated it since it seems to have started just after the bawkick would have finished but the current thinking is that it was started in the vape shop that was seen gently smouldering about half past three this afternoon. 
An entire corner of Glasgow city centre destroyed because of a cheap lithium vape battery going pop, hardly seems believable.

[artdjones]

1 minute ago, Spiny Norman said:

I did wonder if one of the green-v-blue morons had initiated it since it seems to have started just after the bawkick would have finished but the current thinking is that it was started in the vape shop that was seen gently smouldering about half past three this afternoon. 
An entire corner of Glasgow city centre destroyed because of a cheap lithium vape battery going pop, hardly seems believable.

If you've got hundreds or thousands of the things out the back of the shop you would only need one setting itself on fire to cause an inferno.

There don't seem to be any injuries, which is a mercy, but hopefully the station will be ok. Grade A listed, and Glasgow already lost two of its 4 terminal stations.

[Pieman]

Who do I complain to about the state of the A446 between Bassett's Pole and the Belfry golf course/M42 junction 9, south of Tamworth?  It is in such terrible condition it is downright dangerous and pretty much undriveable even for large vehicles - in a couple of places there are craters in it you could probably park a motorcycle in, and if a car hit one of them at speed it could probably turn it over.  I'm assuming Warwickshire is the council responsible but if anyone can confirm let me know please, or would complaining make no difference?

[richardmorris]

3 hours ago, Pieman said:

Who do I complain to about the state of the A446 between Bassett's Pole and the Belfry golf course/M42 junction 9, south of Tamworth?  It is in such terrible condition it is downright dangerous and pretty much undriveable even for large vehicles - in a couple of places there are craters in it you could probably park a motorcycle in, and if a car hit one of them at speed it could probably turn it over.  I'm assuming Warwickshire is the council responsible but if anyone can confirm let me know please, or would complaining make no difference?

If you use "fill that hole .org.uk" you don't need to know it does it for you if you know the location.

 

Fill That Hole

 

[Metal Guru]

48 minutes ago, richardmorris said:

If you use "fill that hole .org.uk" you don't need to know it does it for you if you know the location.

My wife warned me about a pot hole on a road we use a lot after a friend had damaged damaged the tyres , wheel and suspension on his car after hitting it. When I first saw it , it was filled with water so looked just like any other puddle.

A week on it had dried out, and I was astonished to see it had been “repaired”. I say “repaired”, it had been surfaced but still left at least 6 inches deep. Unbelievable!

[Zelandeth]

The game here is closing a road for repairs - spending a whole day "repairing" one or two potholes using naught but the jet patcher - on a busy 70mph road.  So 24 hours later it's just as bad as before they touched it but now with sticky gravel everywhere as an added bonus.

But as it's been "actioned" so nobody can claim against the idiots.

[cort1977]

On 08/03/2026 at 15:16, Zelandeth said:

It seems to vary from provider to provider and even policy to policy.  As this is through a work scheme I don't really have much say in the matter sadly.

I recently paid directly for a private appointment, it was around £200 i think. Which is a lot but the doctor took a quick look and referred me straight to the NHS hospital and i had surgery about three weeks later. In comparison to the two year wait I had previously been advised it was a bargain. 

It's a totally unfair system but what else can you do?

[davidfowler2000]

16 hours ago, chaseracer said:

Checking @davidfowler2000 is safe and well?  He works out of Central.

Naw ah pure dinnae. Am a Queen St driver noo.

WOMAN_df2k still works out of Central but she was off yesterday and annual leave this week.

We were in Halfurts earlier to get car washing stuff and she picked up a new keyring for her work bag...

[cobblers]

Been to wales again this weekend. Had a fantastic time going down some slate mines (Maenofferen and Cwmorthin) and on a walk with some proper landscape that puts my home turf (peak district) absolutely to shame.

But the amount of litter everywhere is absolutely heartbreaking, and the speed limits are absolutely nonsensical and applied (and adhered to) seemingly at random.  

Do you just eventually get used to it if you lived there? I had cogs coming out of my ears!

[artdjones]

15 minutes ago, cobblers said:

Been to wales again this weekend. Had a fantastic time going down some slate mines (Maenofferen and Cwmorthin) and on a walk with some proper landscape that puts my home turf (peak district) absolutely to shame.

But the amount of litter everywhere is absolutely heartbreaking, and the speed limits are absolutely nonsensical and applied (and adhered to) seemingly at random.  

Do you just eventually get used to it if you lived there? I had cogs coming out of my ears!

I was born in Cardiff, but I haven't been in the city for more than 10 years. And have passed through on the motorways a couple of times since. My brother has moved back to Wales now after 20 years in Spain, and I'm visiting for a week in May. 

I'm a bit worried about what I'm going to find.

[myglaren]

Daughter still battling with the DVLA, her insurance has run out, car is SORNed.

Removed the battery to be able to keep it charged, what a pain! So much stuff to remove to get it out, the battery cover itself trapped under the brake fluid reservoir.

A normally two minute job taking over half an hour.

[barefoot]

More shit journalism...

https://supercarblondie.com/man-rebuilding-80s-nova-supercar-video/

'Man rebuilding super car...'

It's a fucking VW kitcar. 

[High Jetter]

Went to Tesco today tp stock up on wine at 25% off and a couple of other things. Spent over £130, way more than usual there. Got back home to find postie had brought me several Clubcard vouchers, all for spends over £120. I could have saved another £18 if they'd arrived yesterday.

[DavieW]

4 miles queues on the M80 because of a crash on the other carriageway 🤬🤬

[Barry Cade]

16 minutes ago, DavieW said:

4 miles queues on the M80 because of a crash on the other carriageway 🤬🤬

I'm just back from Clarkston, M8 was quiet all the way, and Queensferry crossing/m90 were running clear.. Last Friday was the same... odd. Glad I didnt come home via Kincardine now!

[DavieW]

We have a new bakers opened in the village. It was officially meant to be Thursday but didn't open until Friday. I thought I'd try it out and give them some business - walked down today and it's closed, no signs or opening hours etc. Spoke to someone else and they had the same disappointment.  Not a great way to establish a new business.

[artdjones]

2 hours ago, DavieW said:

We have a new bakers opened in the village. It was officially meant to be Thursday but didn't open until Friday. I thought I'd try it out and give them some business - walked down today and it's closed, no signs or opening hours etc. Spoke to someone else and they had the same disappointment.  Not a great way to establish a new business.

Don't get your hopes up.

[Remspoor]

On 13/03/2026 at 15:35, barefoot said:

More shit journalism...

https://supercarblondie.com/man-rebuilding-80s-nova-supercar-video/

'Man rebuilding super car...'

It's a fucking VW kitcar. 

 Youtoob  kept suggesting his videos too me. I declined. 

[davehedgehog31]

Inadvertently caught some gushing news coverage of The Oscars. Why am I supposed to care about these people or their enormously self indulgent awards ceremony? It's not exactly the lords work, it's professional pretending FFS.

[vulgalour]

Back on the Trying To  Find A Third Way situation here.  PIP and DWP rant behind the cut.

Spoiler

DWP finally sent out the information regarding the tribunal appeal, an appeal they're challenging because according to them there's nothing wrong with me.  Interestingly, on their assessment they stated I had no difficulty communicating on the phone, which is a blatant lie.  They've also stated there's no medical proof, so I guess I have to send the neurologist's report to them AGAIN.  The one comfort, sort of, is that everyone bar one person I've spoken to directly about this have said they've had similar experiences.  Not quite on the timescale and level of grief I've been put through, mind, just similar.  So at least I don't feel like I'm losing my mind completely.  What's baffling is how hard they're trying to prove I'm not ill and how hard they're expecting me to fight it.  They haven't taken ME/CFS seriously as a condition at all, and I'm very used to that, the old trope of "just try harder" and "stop being lazy" I've had thrown at me for most of my adult life.

So what next?  I've tried to get in touch with Citizen's Advice Bureau, but they're short staffed so aren't answering the phone, don't do drop-in appointments, and prefer you send them an email to explain what you need help with.  I'm fed up of having to do all the legwork to prove this.  I'm fed up of having to go over and over this situation again and again, it'd be exhausting if you were a totally well person, imagine what it's like for me.  I genuinely want to give up, I'm pretty sure that's the point of all this.  The vagueness of timescales, the waiting, the incompetence... and all the while the bills keep coming and I can't keep up.

Since the social safety net is basically a drawing on the ground rather than anything of any real use, I'm back to trying to do as much as I can in a day without totally destroying myself.  I just want a few weeks to rest, to recover, to not worry about any of this bullshit.  I'll just keep plodding on with the arts and crafts and hoping people have a bit spare during the cost of living crisis to buy something, it's all I can do. 

[robt100]

31 minutes ago, vulgalour said:

Back on the Trying To  Find A Third Way situation here.  PIP and DWP rant behind the cut.

  Reveal hidden contents

DWP finally sent out the information regarding the tribunal appeal, an appeal they're challenging because according to them there's nothing wrong with me.  Interestingly, on their assessment they stated I had no difficulty communicating on the phone, which is a blatant lie.  They've also stated there's no medical proof, so I guess I have to send the neurologist's report to them AGAIN.  The one comfort, sort of, is that everyone bar one person I've spoken to directly about this have said they've had similar experiences.  Not quite on the timescale and level of grief I've been put through, mind, just similar.  So at least I don't feel like I'm losing my mind completely.  What's baffling is how hard they're trying to prove I'm not ill and how hard they're expecting me to fight it.  They haven't taken ME/CFS seriously as a condition at all, and I'm very used to that, the old trope of "just try harder" and "stop being lazy" I've had thrown at me for most of my adult life.

So what next?  I've tried to get in touch with Citizen's Advice Bureau, but they're short staffed so aren't answering the phone, don't do drop-in appointments, and prefer you send them an email to explain what you need help with.  I'm fed up of having to do all the legwork to prove this.  I'm fed up of having to go over and over this situation again and again, it'd be exhausting if you were a totally well person, imagine what it's like for me.  I genuinely want to give up, I'm pretty sure that's the point of all this.  The vagueness of timescales, the waiting, the incompetence... and all the while the bills keep coming and I can't keep up.

Since the social safety net is basically a drawing on the ground rather than anything of any real use, I'm back to trying to do as much as I can in a day without totally destroying myself.  I just want a few weeks to rest, to recover, to not worry about any of this bullshit.  I'll just keep plodding on with the arts and crafts and hoping people have a bit spare during the cost of living crisis to buy something, it's all I can do. 

I'm not sure if its the same now as in Covid (probably not! But I think I knew someone who was doing the same before covid), but from what I remember if you're self employed but low income you can apply for UC and they will give it pro-rata based on how much you earn from SE work. Might not be great, but you get the "perks" of being on UC (no council tax etc) but can still earn about 500-700 SE and get a little bit on top from the UC. Not that I would suggest it is an alternative to PIP, but I wonder if it might help ease the burden a little in the meantime? Afraid my memory of it all is a bit fuzzy as I did it 6 years ago. Made redundant, moved house, started up a new business on the friday, on the monday lockdown started 🙄 so wasn't entitled to furlough or the SE handouts as I didnt qualify, but could get on the UC system.

[Mr Livered]

@robt100 that's true although they will monitor your self-employed earnings and if you don't earn enough you get booted off that scheme and onto the thumbscrew scheme where you have to demonstrate you are looking for a job. Don't satisfy that, and you're back to no UC via quite a bit of stress. 

[vulgalour]

Yep, exactly that.  I was on UC before I fell really ill and it was a nightmare.  I literally couldn't do enough to satisfy them, there weren't enough jobs in the area to apply for, let alone ones I was able to do.  Now I can barely do 15 hours a week, less if I'm having to do a job with a commute and working with people, I can't meet the minimum requirements.  Then they tell you to claim ESA or PIP, and I'm banging my head on those too.  I've talked to so many people from so many departments and the response has been a universal "but why can't you get the help?" and yeah, I'm asking the same question here.  I've fallen between the cracks, it sucks.  I've done literally everything I can, spoken to everyone I can, and now I just have to wait and desperately hope the ME somehow magically gets better (it won't).

[hairnet]

looking for a date for something else

noticed mot lapsed

month ago ffs

 

[High Jetter]

1 hour ago, hairnet said:

looking for a date for something else

noticed mot lapsed

month ago ffs

 

https://www.gov.uk/get-stop-view-mot-reminder

[hairnet]

usually good at that kinda shit 

20 years maybe done it twice

 

[myglaren]

I use the dreaded 'phone calendar to remind me of all that stuff or I too would forget.

Mine going in next Monday, due the 15th of April