The grumpy thread

[Bfg]

1 minute ago, juular said:

If I return to those places that previously I'd be guaranteed to be the only person there for days on end, there are now twenty camper vans there, with kids running around and barbecues lit.

Isn't it a good thing that children are being taken out to benefit from the fresh air and to enjoy the countryside still ? .. that they are running around and having fun ?  .. that families and friends can enjoy al-fresco cooking and eating together, without their having cut branches off the local trees ?    

I ask this, but in truth I too am a hypocrite.  I like peace and quiet,  I like a clear fast roads without traffic and speed cameras, and yet I don't like motorcyclist who fly passed .. too close at terminal speeds.  I long to move out into the countryside where I can see stars at night, without buildings and light pollution all around me.  I am selfish. I like to see healthy and happy families but I'd prefer they'd be happy quietly or somewhere else.  

I also know that those remarkable out-of-the-way places are quiet when the season finishes and the weather has turned cold with a bitter wind.  But I neither have the motivation, when it's uncomfortable cold and wet, nor the clothing to get out there then.   I'm a townie would-be outbacker  (... whose mistake in life was to live on a small over-populated island which isn't tropical.)  

Next time around .. in the next life., I'll very likely end up living in such an beautifully isolated place .. but God will have turned me into a cow and I belong to a beef farmer !   

I just can't seem to get it right. !  

[cobblers]

There's a couple of websites I use quite often to get a nice place to stay - (offgridcamp and wildwithconsent) and they never fail, the places are always super secluded. £20-40 a night, but that's the price of peace. For one reason or another there's absolutely nothing in this area on either site! I presumed that it was because there's so many places to just pitch up at the side of a quiet road that there was no demand - How wrong I was!

I've booked a couple of spots on the way home, one next to a river in Northumberland, and I might see if I can get somewhere in north yorkshire as well.

 

 

[castros_bro]

On 15/09/2026 at 11:11, hairnet said:

Looking at another forum and someone has posted currently shitting myself -fire

And posts a pic of smoke from the front of the house and its not far away

He describing helicopters and bomberos and shit

If its that bad why are you still there

Wtf

I've not* been sitting on iberian kitchen roof drinking cold beer whilst helicoptor with bag on string keeps going back and forth to somewhere unknown but can't see/smell any smoke nor warning on website.

[sheffcortinacentre]

6 hours ago, juular said:

It's soul crushing, but I can no longer do van holidays in my own country. A combination of the sheer numbers of people combined with shocking behaviour of idiots in vans means not only is it unpleasant, I feel extremely unwelcome.

It's over publicised. Everyone wants a neat Instagram slice of what is in reality a very small country with crap roads and not many facilities. All of the 'look at this secret I found' and then broadcasting it to the entire planet means the few quiet bits have been totally trashed.

Harris should be better if you stay away from the Lewis touristy pish.

Edit: ten days is enough to enjoy a proper unwind on the continent, where the population density is much lower, the roads are better and there's a lot of absolutely anonymous places that haven't been trashed.

Sorry it's a  lie that this country is overcrowded, ask any politician.

[iainrcz]

Shaved my head earlier and pinched some of the woman's moisturiser.

Just realised it was a day cream, so that's me not sleeping tonight.

[captain_70s]

4 hours ago, Bfg said:

Isn't it a good thing that children are being taken out to benefit from the fresh air and to enjoy the countryside still ? .. that they are running around and having fun ?  .. that families and friends can enjoy al-fresco cooking and eating together, without their having cut branches off the local trees ?

The latest breed of holiday maker seem to go on holiday to these places because they've been told they have to, not because they want to.

Spend the whole time glued to phones, listening to Radio 1 on a Bluetooth speaker at max volume, getting pissed, eating the same shitty food they eat at home, moan that everything is too far away, generally fail to interact with the environment and leave all their rubbish behind.

Taking the experience of the trashiest all inclusive holiday resort and transplanting it to rural Scotland. A pointless endeavour.

[High Jetter]

9 hours ago, MAF260 said:

Apparently I've used the wrong fluid

Huh? It's water. Ideally with detergent and surfactants, but H2O will do. How can it be wrong?

[MAF260]

9 hours ago, High Jetter said:

Huh? It's water. Ideally with detergent and surfactants, but H2O will do. How can it be wrong?

After a bit of research it seems it's a common issue for modern BMWs. Any fluid with silicone additives is bad for the system and blocks the filter and nozzles. It may be a ruse for BMW to sell exorbitantly-priced fluid, but either way I'll be very careful from now on and use silicone-free fluid only. The washers now work and my wallet is lighter for the lesson.

[goosey]

After many years Forklift experience, today I had my first accident

As the usual Forklift driver was off I had to step up to unload a wagon 

🤦‍♂️the counterbalance caught a brand new shipping container used for storage, didn’t know I’d done it at the time 

I spoke to the owner who was very ok about it and has said about when it becomes vacant maybe go bash it back out and paint over the damage 

[Zelandeth]

In my experience the West coast of Scotland has been a massive tourist trap for decades - though has no doubt got worse over time.

Northeast corner I think you'd find far more up your street.  Not quite as spectacular in the scenery department overall, but still plenty of gorgeous countryside.  View from the top of Bennachie never gets old.  You're far more likely to find places not overrun with tourists than you are on the west coast.

Lot of the little fishing towns like Portsoy honestly seem to be stuck in a complete time warp where it's still about 1989.

[Mr Livered]

I don't know Scotland but I suspect that there are similarities with where I live in the south west. There are touristy places with big car parks and so on; they're beautiful but if asked by a tourist for recommendations I could come up with places that are just as stunning but relatively unknown and consequently empty of tourists.

[Metal Guru]

16 hours ago, captain_70s said:

The latest breed of holiday maker seem to go on holiday to these places because they've been told they have to, not because they want to.

Spend the whole time glued to phones, listening to Radio 1 on a Bluetooth speaker at max volume, getting pissed, eating the same shitty food they eat at home, moan that everything is too far away, generally fail to interact with the environment and leave all their rubbish behind.

Taking the experience of the trashiest all inclusive holiday resort and transplanting it to rural Scotland. A pointless endeavour.

I’ve been going to the Lake District since 1969. Even back then it was mobbed at the weekend so we used to go elsewhere like the Yorkshire Dales. Now it’s real  busy all week from Easter to October at least, but every few weeks ITV Border announces a new “initiative” by the Tourist people or Councils to attract even more people there. It’s crazy especially as there isn’t the staff available for any scheme because no one on minimum wage (99% of the jobs “created”) can afford to live there. 
A few miles away Northumberland and Yorkshire are largely quiet apart from a few obvious hot spots. 

[DavieW]

I saw these flytipped tyres in an industrial estate during the week. Obviously a tyre company dumped them. Second grump is the state of the tyre pictured. Scary to think people drive on tyres like this. 

[Bren]

22 hours ago, DavieW said:

I saw these flytipped tyres in an industrial estate during the week. Obviously a tyre company dumped them. Second grump is the state of the tyre pictured. Scary to think people drive on tyres like this. 

[Bren]

Modern electric lawnmowers are shite.

Our flymo just gets clogged up with the merest hint of dew on the grass. I had strimmed the grass first but the moisture meant none of the grass made it was to the grassbox. I had to remove it and use a rake. It's taken three hours to do the back lawn.

It's dealing with shite like this that stops me going out on my bike or working on the SD1.

[Zelandeth]

Well that was fun.  Our bathtub just failed and decanted about 3/4 of a tub full of water into the ceiling void and Utility Room below.

[myglaren]

Ours did that a few years ago and it came down in the kitchen.  Not pretty.

[iainrcz]

The Mrs didn't pack a butter knife for our holiday.

We're living like fucking animals.

[High Jetter]

6 hours ago, Zelandeth said:

Well that was fun.  Our bathtub just failed and decanted about 3/4 of a tub full of water into the ceiling void and Utility Room below.

Puts the fire out tho...

 

[Remspoor]

French roads

The 30KPH zones have very sharp speed humps at either end. Terrible.

The place is full of roundabouts and they are building even more on junctions that quite frankly can be kept as junctions. 

 

This is  all about controlling the speed of traffic.  Noble but do they really need to make everything so severe? And makes for a rally  crap driving experience.  Another reason why cars are not selling

[beko1987]

13 hours ago, iainrcz said:

The Mrs didn't pack a butter knife for our holiday.

We're living like fucking animals.

Bit late now but would a scollop knife work in this emergency? 

[myglaren]

Had a couple of microwave ovens to bin.  Tried to book in at my local one but was rejected as "This vehicle needs a recycling licence".  Bog standard Mazda 6

So following the advice of someone on here (sorry, have forgotten who) went to the Hett Hills one.

Magical mystery tour.  Knew the way to almost there, set off, lots of traffic upheaval due to road works on the rout I chose.  My car satnav couldn't find it, dropped the phone down beside the passenger seat and couldn't retrieve it so drove using guesswork.  Found more by accident than design, spotted a 

sign almost obscured by trees.

Excellent place.  They even have an area where one can take things from;  wheelchairs, bikes, paint, tools and more.

No booking needed and the website shows if it is busy and approximate wait times.

Had to borrow a big screwdriver to poke the phone from beside the seat.

 

 

[Zelandeth]

Spurred on to getting the bathroom sorted by yesterday's impromptu creation of an indoor swimming pool I set about trying to get something resembling a ballpark figure together today.

We've tried using small companies for a bunch of jobs and it had universally bitten us on the arse - so this is going to be done through a major retail brand.  Yes the bottom line might be a bit more expensive, but at least it will be DONE rather than abandoned at the 90% mark, and we'll have some vague chance of comeback if there are snagging problems.  Warranties aren't worth the paper they're written on if the company just winds themselves up as soon as you start chasing warranty work...odds of B&Q etc doing that seems rather less than ye random tradesman.  

Attempted to tick B&Q off the list as they're physically closest to home.

Gave up after more than 30 minutes standing around like a teapot and asking five people for assistance who were all going to go get someone to help me.

You'd think they might be at least vaguely interested in someone trying to spend probably somewhere in the region of ten or fifteen grand in their store, but apparently not.

Oh well, IKEA tomorrow if time allows, see if they're any more interested.

[LightBulbFun]

1 hour ago, Zelandeth said:

Attempted to tick B&Q off the list as they're physically closest to home.

Gave up after more than 30 minutes standing around like a teapot and asking five people for assistance who were all going to go get someone to help me.

You'd think they might be at least vaguely interested in someone trying to spend probably somewhere in the region of ten or fifteen grand in their store, but apparently not.

at least find anything good in the lamp recycling bin they rather perplexing put by the exit? 

(you would think they would put it by the entrance so someone who is looking to recycle a Lamp, could drop it off in their way in to do their DIY shopping, rather than have to carry it around while they do their shopping...)

[High Jetter]

1 hour ago, LightBulbFun said:

at least find anything good in the lamp recycling bin they rather perplexing put by the exit? 

(you would think they would put it by the entrance so someone who is looking to recycle a Lamp, could drop it off in their way in to do their DIY shopping, rather than have to carry it around while they do their shopping...)

Perhaps if they put it by the entrance people will select items then go to pay for them? I know it's not a mistake you'd ever make, but some might 😀

[DavieW]

F me, Premier Inns have gone downhill. Booked dinner for 7pm when I checked in. Came down a couple of mins before to be told "take a seat and I'll call you when your table is ready"  Restaurant isn't even 1/4 full. I take a seat and 3 others pitch up and get taken straight away. Server comes across and takes me to my table. I've now sat for 15 mins and not had my order taken yet. 

Heaven help the place when the extra rooms are built and open for customers. 

[adw1977]

1 hour ago, LightBulbFun said:

at least find anything good in the lamp recycling bin they rather perplexing put by the exit? 

(you would think they would put it by the entrance so someone who is looking to recycle a Lamp, could drop it off in their way in to do their DIY shopping, rather than have to carry it around while they do their shopping...)

No, because people come in with a dud lamp, take it in the store to compare against lamps for sale to make sure it matches, then dump the dud one on the way out.

[LightBulbFun]

3 minutes ago, adw1977 said:

No, because people come in with a dud lamp, take it in the store to compare against lamps for sale to make sure it matches, then dump the dud one on the way out.

good point I had not thought of it like that!

although I have to say Have you seen how disappointing B&Q's lightbulb range is, vs the sort of lamps you see people dump in those bins? good luck to whoever is trying to find a Chinese clone of a Japanese FML27 EX-D for an SAD-Full-Spectrum type lamp and a replacement for the proprietary amusingly cock-and-ball shaped cartridge system germicidal lamp from their Pond Filter at B&Q... 

as just a couple examples of some of the lamps I have fished out of there, and thats the criminal thing is also the number of still either pefectly good or completely unused lamps I have fished out of there, but thats a while other thing (I suspect theres a fair few people who do just use it for disposal so in that regard they should a bin at both the entrance and exit!)

On 04/08/2026 at 03:23, LightBulbFun said:

anywho, also popped to a B&Q nearby to get a bunch of plastic boxes so as to be able to better organise my collection (as a fair amount of it has ended up in random cardboard boxes which I dont like)

did take the oppertunity to rain the lamp recycling bin they have by the exit, its criminal what people chuck out, literally says new/unused on them, so they came home with me of course! (along with a couple other interesting lamps/tubes I had found in there)

 

 

[artdjones]

11 hours ago, Remspoor said:

French roads

The 30KPH zones have very sharp speed humps at either end. Terrible.

The place is full of roundabouts and they are building even more on junctions that quite frankly can be kept as junctions. 

 

This is  all about controlling the speed of traffic.  Noble but do they really need to make everything so severe? And makes for a rally  crap driving experience.  Another reason why cars are not selling

Some of the bumps are reasonable but some are ridiculous. 

I'm in France at present. If you don't drive at least a genuine 10kph over the speed limit there's always somebody 2m off your rear bumper.  That applies whatever the limit. From 30 to 130kph.

France, the country with the best way of life in the world™, according to them. It's a shame it doesn't translate into making them particularly happy.

I'm having a good time however. The Landes is not very crowded.

[angle]

The guy who lives a few doors down from me has what is a quite possibly haunted Peugeot Partner - it seems to be constantly broken, often in more than one way at a time. I mentioned to him a few weeks ago that it smelled a bit petrol-y (its a 1.6 VTi / Prince engine of doom, which is possibly what its haunted by). In the interim the AA have dragged it off to a garage after he spent the weekend trying to get it to start, but its back. And it smells. Which is because it has a growing puddle of unleaded under it. 

I am grumpy because (a) its parked outside my house, about 5m from my living room window, and (b) according to another neighbour he left for South Africa for three weeks at lunchtime. 

Tempted to lob a match in its direction, he'd probably consider it a favour.