The grumpy thread

[Negative Creep]

Is that 3g or mobile wi fi? Im reluctant to buy anything with 3 after hearing nightmare tales of their customer service

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

3g. Their customer service is indeed pants, but hopefully you won't have to contact them often. I suggest you borrow a dongle/buy a very cheap one off e-bay and load it with the pay-per-day option (2 quid per day) in order to make sure that coverage and speed at your place are decent. The good thing is that, as I said above, the contract is rolling so you can always stop it if you get fed up.

 

For some reason, my connection has been pretty stable over the past few days. It's not as fast as I'd like it to be given that I live in the city centre, but I can't really complain...Must be a very localised thing- I'm in a coffee shop in Chesterfield right now and speedtest shows 5.74mbps down, 1.51 up which IMO is bloody marvellous for a mobile connection.

[tonedepear]

I'm in a coffee shop in Chesterfield right now and speedtest shows 5.74mbps down, 1.51 up which IMO is bloody marvellous for a mobile connection.

 

That's cos you're the only person in Chesterfield with a mobile phone.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

That is good, I only ever get 1.7/0.25 off my 'broadband' internet at home, its a sack of shite

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

I'm in a coffee shop in Chesterfield right now and speedtest shows 5.74mbps down, 1.51 up which IMO is bloody marvellous for a mobile connection.

 

That's cos you're the only person in Chesterfield with a mobile phone.

 

That sounds about right- it seemed like the only other person who happened to be younger than 60 in the entire town was the 'barista' in the coffeshop who could be described as "the only gay in the village".

[eddyramrod]

the 'barista' in the coffeshop

 

Who let a wealthy bloke in here???? You can afford to go to coffee shops that have baristas????????? If I want coffee, I put the kettle on...

[tonedepear]

the 'barista' in the coffeshop

 

You can afford to go to coffee shops that have baristas?????????

 

Free legal advice with every 5th Latte.

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

the 'barista' in the coffeshop

 

Who let a wealthy bloke in here???? You can afford to go to coffee shops that have baristas????????? If I want coffee, I put the kettle on...

 

Then you don't really drink coffee...it's simple as that! That freeze-dried chemically-enhanced shit isn't coffee!

 

Incidentally, the prices look quite cheap to me as I had been staying in Greece for a while. Coffee in that country is 'reassuringly expensive'- €4.50 used to be the going rate in neighbourhood cafes and I've paid up to €6.90 for one. Even with the country on the brink of bankruptcy, you're doing well if you can find a double espresso in a sit-down place for less than €3.50!

[tonedepear]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0000AN3QI/ref=asc_df_B0000AN3QI3084737?smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&tag=googlecouk06-21&linkCode=asn&creative=22206&creativeASIN=B0000AN3QI

 

+

 

http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/shelves/Ground_Coffee_in_Tesco.html

 

=

 

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

Agreed...them things are full of WIN!

[Guest]

Unit belonging to the builders was broken into last night. Seems it was a grudge against the builder who rented the space. They dragged away his knackered Frontera, kicked the door through and forced his shutters up. He had a Golf inside that they dragged outside and started from a battery they robbed out of Sid's Tigra. They must have done it in the very small hours because I came back in the 305 at 12.55 this morning and nothing was amiss.

 

To be fair, shouty biscuit man [sid] had left the key in the driver's door, but it has left me worried to be honest.

[CreepingJesus]

Further to the coffee thing... I'm in an art exhibition drinking Starbucks. Quelle sophisticate? LOLed

[scaryoldcortina]

About coffee... I like the instant stuff, I drink quite a lot of it... mostly at work, and usually a supermarket own brand. I would love to know why it is impossible to get an ordinary, shite cup of instant at a service station but you can get a super moccha double decaff latte at 2 in the morning. Plenty of times I've wanted a coffee on the way back from a long haul job and ended up with energy drinks instead thanks to the likes of Costa Coffee and their undrinkable overpriced muck.

 

Sorry, like...

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

Just ask for filter coffee or, at worst, 'americano' (an espresso with a lot of water). If you like instant, you're bound to at least tolerate it.

 

Costa/Nero/Starbucks etc actually do make reasonably good coffee. However, since 80% of their customers are pretentious wankers and/or mouthbreathers, they [the customers] can't figure out that the point of a coffee shop is to actually serve coffee, opting instead for soup bowls full of milky muck. Given that demand for this shit is far bigger than demand for espresso/filter coffee, they [the shops] do place an emphasis on marketing the shitty muck. That doesn't mean that their proper coffee is bad.

 

Next time you go into one of these places, ask them for a double espresso. If pure espresso is too strong/bitter for you, ask for a double espresso machiatto ( = espresso with a little bit of milk froth on top- enough to tone down the bitterness without spoiling the drink). I can absolutely guarantee that it will be 9132479327% better than whatever else they have on the menu, plus it will be a bit cheaper (usually it's just under 2 quid)....and I'd say there's a decent chance that you may become a 'proper' coffee convert!

[tonedepear]

As a former barista, I'm with you Scary. I like 'proper coffee' but I love a cup of gold blend. Nescafe used to do awesome instant coffee in a magic can that heated up when you opened it. What happened to them?

 

Oh and I don't like tea. Am I still allowed on here?

[chaseracer]

Nescafe used to do awesome instant coffee in a magic can that heated up when you opened it. What happened to them?

Still got one of those in the car following a 2006 jaunt through Europe. Might just be past its best by now...

[tonedepear]

Nescafe used to do awesome instant coffee in a magic can that heated up when you opened it. What happened to them?

Still got one of those in the car following a 2006 jaunt through Europe. Might just be past its best by now...

 

I wouldn't be surprised if they were invincible. Check the date!

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

Oh and I don't like tea. Am I still allowed on here?

 

I also used to not be fond of tea, then I found out that (similar to what happens with coffee) I was merely drinking the wrong kind. Doesn't have to be particularly expensive and/or sold in a posh package, but whole leaf tea is infinitely better than the usual bagged rubbish.

 

I'm a big fan of shite in terms of material possessions, but I think that, as long as you do some research, spending a bit extra on food and drink is well worth it.

[chaseracer]

I'm a big fan of shite in terms of material possessions, but I think that, as long as you do some research, spending a bit extra on food and drink is well worth it.

Concur. Very wise My body is a temple, etc.

 

To Buddha, in my rather expansive case...

[cort16]

Another day in the garage. FFS, how much rust is in this thing?

[Pillock]

Guy next door has disconnected his broadband so now i dont have any. Only options are horrendously expensive mobile wi fi, getting a line installed which is cheap per month but has an 18 month contract with horrendous cancellation fees or using my phone as a router for horrendously slow 3g connection for £5 every 500mb

 

Think it would actually be easier to move somewhere with broadband as part of the rent

 

Plusnet do a "no contract" broadband..... it's ADSL so you will need a phone line, but they do those too so might all be covered in one payment and all be contract-free. I've heard really, really good stuff about them, their customer service is spot on.

[loserone]

the Post Office don't have a minimum contract length on their phone lines.

 

AAISP don't have a minimum contract either (and I can vouch for the best customer service from an ISP I've ever had - they kicked BT wholesale into line for me!) and I believe Zen still don't either. Both are relatively expensive mind, but then you get what you pay for

 

I decided long ago that I'd never deal with BT again, but when the alternative is Virgin, I'd rather have POTS and ADSL, and not have to worry about monitoring/IWF &c.

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

On the subject of phones, does anyone know whether reactivating the DSL part of a (present but disconnected) line automatically incurs a fee? PO said they can restart the telephone part of the line gratis, but I won't want to go with them for internet and I can't really speak to an ISP until I have a line!

[loserone]

On the subject of phones, does anyone know whether reactivating the DSL part of a (present but disconnected) line automatically incurs a fee? PO said they can restart the telephone part of the line gratis, but I won't want to go with them for internet and I can't really speak to an ISP until I have a line!

 

Officially, yes. The DSL was still enabled on our line, so when I let AAISP know about this, they rang BT and cancelled the man to enable it. Saved my £50

[Guest]

This 'if you're not here ten minutes before you're automatically late' bollocks policy at work.

 

I was logged in and ready to take calls at 9.55. We open at 10. Why am I being lumped in with the useless shits who rocked up 15 minutes late? We don't do anything in this magical 'ten minutes' we're supposed to abide by anyway, so why the bollocking?

 

I really do wish people would climb down off their high fucking horse and take stock of what's in front of them before tarring everyone with the same brush. I don't actually like arriving on the death. Other than a motorway closure and an encounter with a psychotic encounter with a grunting meat head (in the same morning), I've never been late in.

 

 

So fuck off reporting me to head office, you officious little stain. I can shout louder than you.

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

Officially, yes. The DSL was still enabled on our line, so when I let AAISP know about this, they rang BT and cancelled the man to enable it. Saved my £50

 

Cheers for that...might as well stick with 3 if I have to pay an extra 50 quid (not sure whether I'll stay here for very long).

 

Daft question: is there any way to check whether the DSL is still enabled on my line without getting the voice part reconnected?

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

This 'if you're not here ten minutes before you're automatically late' bollocks policy at work.

 

I was logged in and ready to take calls at 9.55. We open at 10. Why am I being lumped in with the useless shits who rocked up 15 minutes late? We don't do anything in this magical 'ten minutes' we're supposed to abide by anyway, so why the bollocking?

 

I really do wish people would climb down off their high fucking horse and take stock of what's in front of them before tarring everyone with the same brush. I don't actually like arriving on the death. Other than a motorway closure and an encounter with a psychotic encounter with a grunting meat head (in the same morning), I've never been late in.

 

 

So fuck off reporting me to head office, you officious little stain. I can shout louder than you.

 

Why do you not report him/her to head office instead? Asking you to report to work earlier without compensating you for it is both illegal and, in all likelihood, against the terms of your contract of employment.

[chaseracer]

/\/\

 

Correct. Wat, feel free to tell the officious little tw@t to get bent.

[Guest]

This 'if you're not here ten minutes before you're automatically late' bollocks policy at work.

 

I was logged in and ready to take calls at 9.55. We open at 10. Why am I being lumped in with the useless shits who rocked up 15 minutes late? We don't do anything in this magical 'ten minutes' we're supposed to abide by anyway, so why the bollocking?

 

I really do wish people would climb down off their high fucking horse and take stock of what's in front of them before tarring everyone with the same brush. I don't actually like arriving on the death. Other than a motorway closure and an encounter with a psychotic encounter with a grunting meat head (in the same morning), I've never been late in.

 

 

So fuck off reporting me to head office, you officious little stain. I can shout louder than you.

 

Why do you not report him/her to head office instead? Asking you to report to work earlier without compensating you for it is both illegal and, in all likelihood, against the terms of your contract of employment.

 

Because I need this job, and I'm tired of banging heads with the management in every job I end working in.

 

Otherwise I would.

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

Because I need this job, and I'm tired of banging heads with the management in every job I end working in.

 

Otherwise I would.

 

but if you make a fuss, raise a grievance etc, there's a decent chance they'll leave you alone in order to avoid the potential for further mishaps that can lead to more bollockings for them from head office. Especially when you're so clearly in the right- the manager who thought of that practice exposes the business to tribunal action and basically needs firing.