The grumpy thread

[Spiny Norman]

10 hours ago, myglaren said:

Went brambling, came home with four kilo's and lots of scratches and nettle stings that still sting, just to remind me.

 

That brings back memories of my yoof. 😛

Granny used to make the most wonderful bramble jam so we'd be sent out late summer to pick the free bounty while getting ravaged by their barbs. It was as if they didn't want to be picked.

[Spiny Norman]

In other news, my hi fi amp has started making loud WHUMP noises when it's switched on. Google suggests capacitors. 
A more capable person than I might have a go at fixing it but after 20 years of service I think retirement is looming, along with a trip to Richer Sounds...

[myglaren]

6 hours ago, Spiny Norman said:

In other news, my hi fi amp has started making loud WHUMP noises when it's switched on. Google suggests capacitors. 
A more capable person than I might have a go at fixing it but after 20 years of service I think retirement is looming, along with a trip to Richer Sounds...

All three of mine are seventies vintage.  I have had the Electrocompaniet preamp seen too, new volume control and caps but the Sonab receiver (made for them by Cambridge audio) and the harmon/kardashian receivers are untouched.  The h/k tuner doesn't work but was never going to be used anyway, only wanted it as an amp.

[jakebullet]

3 am woken up by explosion noise. Huge bang. realised it was a pop bang remap* cunt. Mrs. bends my lughole for 30 mins solid.

Went back to sleep. Until 4am when the cunt came back for another go. Ditto 5am.

Hope someone breaks his legs.

[Spiny Norman]

16 hours ago, Spiny Norman said:

A more capable person than I might have a go at fixing it but after 20 years of service I think retirement is looming, along with a trip to Richer Sounds...

Did the same again today to the point where I'm worried it's damaging the speakers. 

Replacement bought from Richers along with a CD player because I like them to match and the CD player's been acting up recently too. 
I'm sure the amp's fixable but it weighs a fucking ton so postage to a repair place plus the repair would probably cost most of what the new one has so it's off to the WEEE bin at work. 

[Mr Pastry]

2 minutes ago, Spiny Norman said:

I'm sure the amp's fixable but it weighs a fucking ton so postage to a repair place plus the repair would probably cost most of what the new one has so it's off to the WEEE bin at work.

Put it on Ebay.  You might be pleasantly surprised.  People buy broken hifi amplifiers.  I have just sold one, not working, spares or repair, expecting to get £20 or something, and it went for £140.

[Bmwdumptruck]

On 15/08/2026 at 18:36, Zelandeth said:

Probably, but I don' honestly know what else uses 264s off the top of my head.

I kind of expected to just be able to walk in and buy a pair...especially as I had the old one literally in my hand as reference!

Is that the Bletchley store or the one up near the town centre?  

[Zelandeth]

55 minutes ago, Bmwdumptruck said:

Is that the Bletchley store or the one up near the town centre?  

Town centre.  Bletchley one hadn't been "improved" yet last time I was there a few months ago, but it's only a matter of time according to the staff I spoke to there at the time.

[Spiny Norman]

5 hours ago, Mr Pastry said:

Put it on Ebay.  You might be pleasantly surprised.  People buy broken hifi amplifiers.  I have just sold one, not working, spares or repair, expecting to get £20 or something, and it went for £140.

That would mean packing it up and posting it, which is the bit I really CBA with. Just looked it up, 10.6Kg. 
 

[Mr Pastry]

6 hours ago, Spiny Norman said:

That would mean packing it up and posting it, which is the bit I really CBA with. Just looked it up, 10.6Kg. 
 

I know packing is the hassle, but simple delivery, the buyer pays the postage so that's not a problem.

[Floatylight]

On 06/08/2026 at 11:53, sheffcortinacentre said:

Early Orion's where terrible for rot

I had a '84 Mk3 Escort as my first car, got it 1st Jan 1990 so 6 years old, had already been sprayed once and had rust blebs all over it and holes in the top of the wings, got it sorted and resprayed, px'd it in early '92 and I think it was scrapped not long after, so a life of around 8 years!

[Floatylight]

On 15/08/2026 at 19:54, hairnet said:

bbc proms paul simon graceland thing

no paul simon and only a few ladysmith

wtf

dug out the original...............

I watched the opening minute or two, the sound was shite and the person singing  was shite but seemed to think he was "All that" 

[Zelandeth]

Just spent two and a half hours in the garage trying to tidy it up.

Pretty sure there is less space in there now than when I started.  

Chucked a load of shite out but hasn't even made the slightest dent.  

I've given up on getting it into a decent state again (I've come to the conclusion that idea is simply cursed), I just want to get enough room to get a bloody car in there again!

[High Jetter]

1 hour ago, Zelandeth said:

Just spent two and a half hours in the garage trying to tidy it up.

Pretty sure there is less space in there now than when I started.  

Chucked a load of shite out but hasn't even made the slightest dent.  

I've given up on getting it into a decent state again (I've come to the conclusion that idea is simply cursed), I just want to get enough room to get a bloody car in there again!

I've only had properties with a garage since the year 2000. There has never been a chance of getting a full-size car in any of them.

[alcyonecorporation]

Garage has finally got availability for its courtesy car, so [car] can finally go back for warranty work to fix the staggering cock up it made. 
Been splash filling it for a couple of weeks but I've not had a day when I haven't needed it for work. 

[Other car] still broken. 
 

[Zelandeth]

1 hour ago, High Jetter said:

I've only had properties with a garage since the year 2000. There has never been a chance of getting a full-size car in any of them.

Not a full size car that lives in this one normally!  However I made the mistake of removing the car to try to reorganise it a bit...that it turned out was a mistake!

[LightBulbFun]

2 hours ago, Zelandeth said:

Just spent two and a half hours in the garage trying to tidy it up.

Pretty sure there is less space in there now than when I started.  

Chucked a load of shite out but hasn't even made the slightest dent.  

I've given up on getting it into a decent state again (I've come to the conclusion that idea is simply cursed), I just want to get enough room to get a bloody car in there again!

if it makes you feel any better, I recently employed my brother to help construct and put up some shelving in the void space over the stairs, to store the over-flow of 4ft fluorescent tubes about the place, which has worked very well in itself, I can now access them all with reletive ease and they are fairly well pretty on display

but somehow now in my room the explosion of tubes everywhere looks even worse! 

eventually ill gain access to those wardrobes, eventually... (which obviously just contain more of my lighting collection ) 

[High Jetter]

58 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

Not a full size car that lives in this one normally!  However I made the mistake of removing the car to try to reorganise it a bit...that it turned out was a mistake!

Did it fill up on it's own, when the smoll car escaped? 😀

[Zelandeth]

38 minutes ago, High Jetter said:

Did it fill up on it's own, when the smoll car escaped? 😀

We joke that the job of me trying to tidy the garage is cursed as every time I've tried to do it some disaster has immediately made itself known.  This time right as I'd started to rearrange things (I had to make an empty space in the slide puzzle essentially, by removing the car), my husband ended up in A&E and ended up diagnosed with a brain tumour - unrelated to the original admission reason - so I suddenly found I was rather lacking in any spare time.  Oh...and the world suddenly remained resolutely stuck at approximately seven thousand degrees when I cease functioning properly anywhere north of about 20.

In moving the few things I did I managed to destabilise the pile of crap from when I had to empty my folks house in a hurry when my mother passed away, which I now need to sort before the car goes back in as there's been a substantial avalanche.  So just pretending I didn't touch it isn't really an option!

Annoyingly with the car not in there I have to have everything parked pretty tightly other and right up against the door to get it on the driveway - so getting the door open now requires moving three cars, which gets REALLY tiresome in a hurry.

The space in the background is usually filled by another car that's not mine.

[High Jetter]

Apart from the A&E incident (how is he now?), dream driveway.

[New POD]

Bastard pigeons.  

Yesterday 3 were mowed down by me. On the way to work. 

Am I supposed to swerve or brake? I failed to do either. 

When I arrived at work the last one was still attached. I gave it a kick. And this is its foot (mainly).  I need to jet wash it, but I think the grill will be damaged slightly.

This is the rest of the thing. 

[Zelandeth]

14 hours ago, High Jetter said:

Apart from the A&E incident (how is he now?), dream driveway.

To save typing it all up again, a rundown of the sequence of events and current situation is in this post on my blog thread.

In summary, doing okay for now though the future is scary.

[High Jetter]

When changing the front pads on the A4 yesterday I was surprised to find the discs are not attached to the hub. OK, no biggie, the wheel bolts will ensure the discs don't go anywhere - but it makes lining the wheel and disc up together to insert a wheel bolt harder than it should be. What's wrong with studs fixed to hubs, FFS!

[High Jetter]

5 hours ago, Zelandeth said:

In summary, doing okay for now though the future is scary.

Yeah, had read that post and you both have my sympathies. 

[IronStar]

A guy in C3 Aircross crashed into me at the lights. Lights turned green, guy in front didn’t move, I didn’t move, he did move. Into my rear end. Threw me a meter or so ahead. He was super apologetic, we filled the insurance report, and I’ll be ringing the tomorrow. I expect them to determine special edition ’79 Mini in great condition is worth about two bags of yesterday’s popcorn and a bublegum wrapper. 
Rear valance is bent, he twatted me hard enough to rip the exhaust in the front near the manifold, and now 2 hours later my neck is sore. 

FFS people, how do you drive into a fucking Mini in 2026?! People usually stare at it!

[DavieW]

New laptop arrived. IT dept was meant to set it up for me through Chat.  Got a new password from them to start the set up laptop doesn't want to play and now it's locked. Old laptop can't find my router, new laptop, tablet and work phone now all needing a new password, which doesn't work. FFS. IT dept is 300miles down the road - I feel a long journey ahead. 

[Morris 63]

4 hours ago, DavieW said:

New laptop arrived. IT dept was meant to set it up for me through Chat.  Got a new password from them to start the set up laptop doesn't want to play and now it's locked. Old laptop can't find my router, new laptop, tablet and work phone now all needing a new password, which doesn't work. FFS. IT dept is 300miles down the road - I feel a long journey ahead. 

Good luck.

I fear this might be my situation soon too. I'm on sabbatical until mid September (nice!); when I go back the company will have migrated from Outlook to Gmail, and there's a new Macbook Air waiting for me to move over to ( have been on a Windows PC for the 10 years I've been with the company)

Old dog new tricks comes to mind! 😄

[Cavcraft]

Train prices, WTF?

Avanti say £199.90 for the same journey 'Trainline' quoted £416.39 for. 

[Mally]

Imagine you had a plastic pipe down the centre of your err, appendage. At the inside end there's an inflated balloon.

Now suppose the nurse doesn't completely flatten the balloon before removing it.

Makes you grumpy.

[Pieman]

35 minutes ago, Mally said:

Imagine you had a plastic pipe down the centre of your err, appendage. At the inside end there's an inflated balloon.

Now suppose the nurse doesn't completely flatten the balloon before removing it.

Makes you grumpy.

FUCK that.  I would rather have my genitals amputated than have anything shoved up there, ever.