The grumpy thread

[messerschmitt owner]

I've been knocked back for a job I really wanted - granted, it was a year's student placement but I'm middle-aged and changing career - what I am grumpy about is the feedback. It's not the fact that I lack recent programming experience, nor other weak areas like statistics or owt, no, they weren't commented on. Things like not being impressed by my reasons given for moving jobs historically (never been sacked, never walked out of a job without notice, changed jobs because I wanted to try something new or had hit the limit of my qualifications at the time) and stuff like that. I am now depressed as fuck because these are things that I can't change because they're in the past.

I see youngsters here all the time in job interviews - I'd suggest lying next time!

[Negative Creep]

Following on from my last post, my proposed transfer has now been cancelled, and ive been put on the worst department with no help or support at all.

 

I have now officailly had enough of being messed around and being treated like an idiot for £200 a week. Tomorrow im calling in sick and try to find something else asap

[meggersdog]

All this talk of main dealer parts supply reminds me of an incident back in 1987.I was working at a small village garage between Peterborough and Stamford.The boss asked to go to the Ford main dealer in Stamford (Jessop's at the time) for a dealer only part.Can't remember exactly what the part was but it was for a Mk5 Cortina.The parts manager told me they didn't stock parts for cars no longer in production.Would take a week to order it aswell.I remember saying to him " are you trying to tell me Cortina's are not popular cars,that there's no call for parts for them ?".T.C.Harrison's in Peterborough had the part on the shelf.Jessop's soon became another branch of T.C.H.

[Guest]

If you want high-quality parts service, try owning a Daihatsu Charmant. They can't get anything, even service parts. All part of the fun.

[Negative Creep]

On the subject of parts, i asked at the local dealer how much a can of spray paint would be for me car - £27+vat!!

 

So i went to Halfords, the didnt have it on the shelf so needed to be made up. £14.99 and no trade discount!!

[Mr_Bo11ox]

You can get a 400ml custom-mixed one from most decent paint factors for about £12 (The halfords one will be 250ml, of which 98% will be solvent)

[cobblers]

On the subject of parts, i asked at the local dealer how much a can of spray paint would be for me car - £27+vat!!

 

So i went to Halfords, the didnt have it on the shelf so needed to be made up. £14.99 and no trade discount!!

 

 

Those halfords custom cans are loads better than the normal ones they sell, its cellulose paint instead of the acrylic toss they have on the shelf. Have a crack on a bit of scrap first, because the nozzles take some getting used to (but are also much better)

They cover in one coat, vs about five for the off the shelf reds which are laughably poor.

 

 

I used to mix those halfords cans and there is 250ml of paint that gets pumped into them (Well, its weighed in, usually about 225 grams). They cover about 2-3 times the area an off the shelf can will.

 

But yeah the local paint factors are £10 and are probably mixed by someone trained, and they can put 2k paint in an aerosol which is bloody good stuff and a dream to use, but once you press the dot to let the hardener in you've got to use all the tin in a few days or it goes solid.

 

The paint place won't be open at 4pm on sunday which can count for a lot!

[M'coli]

+1 for Halfords mixed paints, they are very good.

[Pete-M]

You can get a 400ml custom-mixed one from most decent paint factors for about £12 (The halfords one will be 250ml, of which 98% will be solvent)

 

Is the correct answer.

[ashmicro]

Can you still get what us old fellows call "coach paint"? I did my whole R^ Metro GTa with it (from a compressor and spraygun) and it looked amazing, finish like glass. And I'm crap at spraying.

[Timewaster]

All this talk of dealer parts - What IS the matter with you lot?!

 

[cobblers]

Ebay part worn tyres. I need some cheap tyres sooner rather than later, but I am very poor. I really need 195/45/14s (or wider) but I'll take what I can get - picked up a pair of 185/50/14s for £30 posted for one end.

 

Spotted on camskill, "sonar" 175/50/14s for 31 quid each plus a fiver post for a pair. I thought that's not a lot for new, they will be WELL CHEAP half fucked which will be enough to get me by for a year or so until I get round to applying for an actual job and perhaps actually getting one.

 

 

Got ebay up for part worns - same tyre, but with 6mm tread and some repairs - £48 posted each. BARGAIN HUNT!

[Negative Creep]

+1 for Halfords mixed paints, they are very good.

 

 

They are indeed, although very reliant on who you get to mix it, as its all manual. I refused to do it as cellulose gives me headaches. Ive used about a third of a can so far respraying my wing mirrors

[myglaren]

Got pulled by the plod yesterday, having left work early due to the excess of deodorant all my colleagues appear to need, breathing became a major problem.

Anyway, buggered off home and as I came off the dual carriageway I dropped in behind a police car. Followed him (slowly) down the off-ramp and around the roundabout and in the direction that I was headed.

He drove more and more slowly and eventually stopped allowing me to pass him, then came after me and after I turned off at the next roundabout flashed the light bar.

 

Pulled in and he came to the car and asked what I wanted?

Naturally I was perplexed, thinking it was he who wanted something.

 

He said that he thought that I was trying to attract his attention as I was flashing my headlights at him - then it dawned.

Since replacing the battery a couple of months ago - unnecessarily as it turned out - the auto-lights have had a mind or their own and come on when accelerating, negotiation roundabouts and various other random times. Never come on in the dark any more though.

He said "I've had two Citroens, I know what they are like"! and shoved off

[messerschmitt owner]

some toerags stole my scooter overnight - recovered it down the street complete with their waterproofs but they've buggered the ignition, the steering lock and the front panel is missing.

 

Insurance excess is probably more than the cost of the parts - so now looking for a Peugeot Vivacity breaker for the parts.

[tonedepear]

My dad's come off his bike and broken his pelvis, so he's holed up in a l'hopital in Colmar, and my mum's stuck in their motorhome. Being parents, they automatically refuse offers of help, such as me coming out and driving them back so they can be at home and recover in relative comfort, but I'm going to have to go all assertive and put my foot down somehow. I can't see my mum tending to him for however long it takes to un-fuck a broken pelvis in a motorhome, doing shopping and getting supplies on her bike. This time last year his appendix burst out there and that was bad enough.

[dollywobbler]

He said that he thought that I was trying to attract his attention as I was flashing my headlights at him - then it dawned.

Since replacing the battery a couple of months ago - unnecessarily as it turned out - the auto-lights have had a mind or their own and come on when accelerating, negotiation roundabouts and various other random times. Never come on in the dark any more though.

He said "I've had two Citroens, I know what they are like"! and shoved off

 

That's wonderful. Truly, the C5 is a proper Citroen.

[Cavcraft]

Sorry to hear that Tone, hope he gets mended soon.

 

Messerschmitt: try Deeside Motorcycle Breakers, Dock Road, Connahs Quay, Flintshire, they are scooter specialits or certainly were not too long ago. If they can't/won't post give me a shiout and I'll pick the bits up and send them off to you if wanted.

 

There is a Vivacity local to me on eBay for spares/repairs but but possibly too expensive just for a handful of parts...

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1999-PEUGEOT-VIVA ... 1c1c56b5d8

[messerschmitt owner]

Sorry to hear that Tone, hope he gets mended soon.

 

Messerschmitt: try Deeside Motorcycle Breakers, Dock Road, Connahs Quay, Flintshire, they are scooter specialits or certainly were not too long ago. If they can't/won't post give me a shiout and I'll pick the bits up and send them off to you if wanted.

 

There is a Vivacity local to me on eBay for spares/repairs but but possibly too expensive just for a handful of parts...

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1999-PEUGEOT-VIVA ... 1c1c56b5d8

Tone

 

sorry to hear about that too - at least the drive home could be comfortable.

 

Cavette, ta.

 

they busted the steering lock, knackered the ignition wiring and some of the panels so it's not looking great - nothing too major, just a major hassle to fix. The bike has sentimental value though as it was the mrs' first brand new vehicle. I reckon to get it right I'll need new column for the front, new mirrors, new front panel, new headlamp, plus ignition switch - it looks cheaper to buy a breaker than pay for the parts individually, thereby giving me a spare engine, wheels, brakes, etc, too. It was in for an MoT at the weekend and I'd just retaxed it so I guess I'll be claiming my £13 tax back instead ...

I saw the blue one - but ours is mint green so I'm now on the lookout for a green breaker from 98-02. Failing that, I'll drop it round the back of the house and go buy a tidy new scooter for £400 or so.

 

Annoyingly, not worth claiming on insurance - £100 excess plus it is supposed to be in the carport at night, not on the drive so they wouldn't pay out anyway.

[tonedepear]

Cheers gents. Good luck with scooter bits.

[garycox]

Lost a wheel trim off the Astra today (one that I've only just replaced...).

 

I hate it when that happens, makes the car look shit. They're suprisingly hard to find too.

[tonedepear]

I've been playing with the herald brakes today (see News 24), but cos it's lived basically ina field for the last year, every time I fucking touch anything, a MASSIVE FUCKING SPIDER comes out. I nearly expired taking one of the wheels off today, the spider was easily bigger than the brake drum, and it hid before I could kill it, so I know it's still there somewhere. I hate spiders, they shit me right up.

[TimothyClaypole]

Customers...

 

Put a number/name on your house not hidden behind a bush with a van parked in front of it.

 

When I've been bothered to help you out by delivering something on my own time, in my own car with my own diesel and being uninsured to do

so into the bundle then I'm pretty sure that being late to the pony club by 5 minutes isn't going to kill you ffs, especially when you told the office

you would be in for an hour, if you are that busy you are not at home more than 25 minutes a day then you need to get a grip, wannabe snobs.

[Angrydicky]

Customers...

 

Put a number/name on your house not hidden behind a bush with a van parked in front of it.

 

 

+1

 

Wankers, the lot of them. "Does your house have a number, I can't find it on the satnav?" "Naaa it's the Oaks" (in best drawling Essex gurl voice).

 

10 minutes later you pull up outside some grotty 1960's house with "The Oaks" on a rotting 6" square sign covered in moss and partially obscured by brambles.

 

There are no excuses for having no number on your house/flat. The worst one is when you get three or four houses in a row with no fucking number, meaning you inevitably go to the wrong front door.

 

Fuck me, I need a new job, I'm better than this shit

[scaryoldcortina]

BIGGER than the brake drum??? I'd shit if I found a spider that size

 

My grump for today - Volkswagen wheel bearing. This time last month I changed a growling front bearing on my daughter's polo ('99) which is a nasty job anyway thanks to some tit at wolfsberg thinking it is a good idea to make the brake caliper carrier part of the hub carrier. This makes it close to impossible to press the new bearing in because the hub won't sit straight in the press. Golfs are also like this, it's a pain in the arse. So why am I complaining about something I did a month ago? I had the polo on the ramp again today because it suddenly got a HUGE oil leak and set off all the OMG LOW OIL warning klaxons and lights in the dash. Oil leak was a pinhole in the filter ( again.... It's blown out rather than pushed in so it must have been faulty) but the freshly fitted wheelbearing is completely toasted. Bone dry and knackered, it has so much play the back of the disk has been touching the edge of the bottom ball joint. Less than 1000 miles and 1 month is not fit for purpose so I have the hub in the sierra and I'm going into the motorfactors to complain about it tomorrow. I'm pretty sure they will try and tell me it has failed because of incorrect fitting even though I do this a lot and I know it was fitted right, my best argument is that there is no grease in it at all and it was a sealed bearing (there is none on the hub, it didn't escape - someone forgot to grease it). If I'm lucky, I'll get another one free because I'm a regular customer there, but it doesn't pay the labour for me fitting another one or provide my daughter with transport while her car is out of action.

 

BAH.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

What make of bearing was it? I have learned when doing wheel bearings, if the replacemrnt bearing is made by some shonky outfit you've never heard of, then the chances are it will indeed last approx 1 month, due entirely to shit metallurgy. If its a QH or SKF or whatever, or an OEM part, it will last ages.

[Danblez]

Since when has it been acceptable practice to use your fugging hazards as indicators and why is every man and his dog now doing this? The number of times people wang them on and then pull over is unbelievable. Yes that is what yor indicator is for you tw*t.

 

Also sitting at the side of the road with them on is even worse. The number of times a day I have to check if some idiot is indicating to pull out or is merrily sitting there parked up with 'OH MY GOD I IZ A HAZARD' lights on is just not funny.

 

Honestly the standard of driving in this country is now rediculous. I propose a retest at least every 5 years that would get half the drivers off the road with the hazard perception test at least. I would happily do this and pay for it just to get these liabilities off the road.

 

*and breathe*

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

sorry to hear that, tone...Don't negotiate with'em...just go there and pick them up!

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

Also sitting at the side of the road with them on is even worse. The number of times a day I have to check if some idiot is indicating to pull out or is merrily sitting there parked up with 'OH MY GOD I IZ A HAZARD' lights on is just not funny.

 

Why? Surely it's the right thing to do if you are in any way, shape, or form obstructing the flow of traffic.

[scaryoldcortina]

Also sitting at the side of the road with them on is even worse. The number of times a day I have to check if some idiot is indicating to pull out or is merrily sitting there parked up with 'OH MY GOD I IZ A HAZARD' lights on is just not funny.

 

Why? Surely it's the right thing to do if you are in any way, shape, or form obstructing the flow of traffic.

 

Nar, the correct thing to do would be to find somewhere to park that doesn't obstruct traffic!

 

Mr B, I agree about cheap bearings. I bought a "good" one which is why I'm so naffed off that it failed.