The grumpy thread

[CIH]

I got a refurbed Toshiba Satellitre SomethingOrOther laptop from Argos outlet on ebay for £200. Modern enough for me and 12 month warranty. I scarcely use it for more than web browsing, though.

[quicksilver]

Watch out for Nvidia graphics on laptops, there was one type of chip quite commonly used and they lied about the heat output on the spec sheet so the heatsinks aren't up to the job. Result: after a while, the chip desolders itself and your display goes blank. Some manufacturers glue the damn things down solid so you can't even reflow the solder underneath.

[ashmicro]

Aah the imfamous NV260. Class action happened on that in the US. And you're right, they lied their arses off!

[AnthonyG]

I have a 2005 Toshiba laptop which still runs fine, and also a new Asus netbook which is fine for net browsing, although it has a fairly pathetic 1GB.

[Negative Creep]

I think my PC is about 6-7 years old now PHEAR THE POWAH of its 1.8ghz processor, 1gb of RAM and 80gb hard drive. However it steadfastly refuses to die, and can't quite afford a replacement yet. Presumably can't be long before XP support starts to die either

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

I'd say that 1.8ghz is fine for 99% of people who don't do CAD/video editing/the latest shoot-em-up. Get yourself a bit of extra RAM and Bob's your uncle.

[Negative Creep]

Not enough to play Starcraft 2 though. Plus the sound card is buggered, and since it's integrated with the motherboard i've never bothered replacing it

[greengartside]

I'm pissed off because I'm in serious financial difficulty.

 

SWMBO lost her job a couple of months ago but has recently started a new one. In the meantime I have had to pay her share of the rent, council tax, water etc. and its left me penniless. I owe a lot of things and I've been threatened with credit rating shit and debt collectors. I don't have any savings and neither does the other half. I have tried speaking to my local branch of the bank but they are just being idiots and messing me about. I don't want to get a payday loan as they do more harm than good. I really don't know who to turn to as I feel I'm losing control of my life. I fucking hate not having any money.

[M'coli]

^^^Do you have a local credit union that you could go to, or have you tried them already?

[greengartside]

^^^Do you have a local credit union that you could go to, or have you tried them already?

 

What's a credit union, pardon my ignorance?

[M'coli]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_union

This explains it far better than I can.

 

Edit: moneysupermarket lists credit unions by region.

http://www.moneysupermarket.com/c/news/ ... s/0004691/

[DSdriver]

First rule of Banking: Only lend money to people who don't actually need it.

Have you asked your own employers if they will give you a sub?

It is good that you are asking advice, don't just bury your head in the sand like I did, it just gets very messy. Make a list of all the people you owe money to and pay a token amount to each with a letter explaining your reason, asking them to be patient and with a plan for future payments. That way you are showing them that you have good intentions. If they then give you grief tell them they are going to the bottom of the list.

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

What he said. There really is nothing that can be added to that post, except possibly that it would be a good idea to check the moneysavingexpert forum. While it can be a tad chavvy and cloying ("aawwww, I am sending you virtual hugs"), there is a lot of useful information to be found there.

[pompei]

A mate works as a debt adviser in a CAB. I think that advice is pretty sound but you could get yourself to your CAB as they can do the legwork for you and it shows good faith to anyone you owe money to.

[The Moog]

Got my marks back from my penultimate MBA assignment and failed it by 6 marks. Reading the feedback looks like I have missed the point! Really stressing me. Got that stomach dropping feeling of failure and disappointment

 

The final 10,000 word project is due in at end of Feb so I need to get it sorted sharpish. After 5 years and best part of £20k I need to pass it.

 

Wouldnt be so bad if work wasnt so mental at the moment. Still will have a beer tonight and try and fix it tomorrow (after picking up the new motor)

[Station]

People selling items who after the ad bit say:

 

"If these don't sell, then I will keep them."

 

Well, duh.

[mk1_4dr]

[RedSparrow]

What happened? I hope you're ok.

[cort16]

Crikey. I hope you decide to save the Escort as it would be a shame to see it broken up.

How are you feeling after the crash? It looks like a heavier hit here than it did in your original pictures.

[TimothyClaypole]

I'm pissed off because I'm in serious financial difficulty.

 

SWMBO lost her job a couple of months ago but has recently started a new one. In the meantime I have had to pay her share of the rent, council tax, water etc. and its left me penniless. I owe a lot of things and I've been threatened with credit rating shit and debt collectors. I don't have any savings and neither does the other half. I have tried speaking to my local branch of the bank but they are just being idiots and messing me about. I don't want to get a payday loan as they do more harm than good. I really don't know who to turn to as I feel I'm losing control of my life. I fucking hate not having any money.

 

Do not go back to the bank again!

 

They are absolute scum if they know you have no money and will cause no end of problems - biggest mistake I made when I was out of work was to ask them for help, que them taking my Jobseekers to pay an overdraft off (illegal) then cancelling my card and the next two replacements etc.

 

If you owe anyone any money then knock up a letter saying you are struggling and want to make a token payment for the time being, anything so you are still paying them something or even freeze any payments. If you are paying them then they can't cause you as much hassle as if you stop paying completely.

 

Have a look around and see what you have you can sell, it's just "stuff" when it comes down to it and you can buy more "stuff" again when you are better off.

[Guest]

The Escort will look a hell of a lot more feasible once the crunched panels are off, right now it's playing tricks on you - imagine it with the affected parts completely missing, with new ones ready to go on. I imagine it near-definitely wants a go on a jig, but I reckon most of the job is just welding new parts on.

 

Good thing is due to the rallying lot, all the front panel bits should be available - I'm certain front panels, front wings and inner wings are at least. Might be a situation where you have to "make do" for a bit until some of the parts turn up - bend the grille and bonnet back until better ones turn up, that sort of thing. It'll come back.

[Albert Ross]

The bump has done you a big favour. That corrosion would have been through soon enough, and you would have been skint because of it. At least this way it gets paid for by the insurance company. And you get the right parts, not bodged up ones.

[Lord Sterling]

Bloody hell mk1-4door! I hope your alright after that bump

 

As Hirst said, once you've got all the twisted bits off it, a repair should look more feasable. A similar thing happend to me a few years ago with my mk1 827Si:

 

 

The day this happend I was on my way to a job interview, a girl had pulled out in front of me from a driveway.

 

Despite missing my interview and smashing my beloved car up I somewhow I managed to get the job and was now in more of a rush to get the car sorted as this was the only car I owned at the time and I had a long commute. I cant seem to find any photos of the rebuild, but I took most of the twisted bits off it (Bar the bonnet) bashed ona few new bits and managed to get it looking somewhat more presentable and at least driveable again, it could have done with rejigging but as I was in a rush to get the car sorted I did what I could. Had I had more time/money/storage space I might have got the car sorted out to a much higher/better standard.

[dollywobbler]

I like the fact that downsizing is blamed. Might that be because these cars keep getting bigger? If the Mondeo was still Mondeo Mk1 sized, perhaps more people would buy them.

[tonedepear]

When I was young and still lived with my folks, my dad an I "shared" a fairly hi-spec train set. We'd both get trucks and carriages and engines and track for xmas and it was a fairly even joint effort. Some of the engines were properly posh, none of this Hornby tat, and we had a big permanent set up in the loft. When I left home I asked if I could take some but was talked out of it (cos I wouldn't look after it properly - possibly fair comment) and a couple of years after that they moved to where they live now.

 

Daughter_tone is WELL in to trains, and has just about outgrown her brio now (she's 6 next month). In conversation with ms_tone I remembered I have some access to a LOAD of OO guage "proper trainz" and emailed my mum this morning.

 

They reckon they left it all in the loft when they moved cos it looked tatty.

 

I am literally in despair.

[morris_ital_lover]

Sad times what kit are you after.... I may be able to help out when I finally get back to my parents as I have a whole heap of kit that I need to go.

[tonedepear]

I don't know yet. Dad reckons there's "a drawer" in "a room" with some stuff in, but doubts he saved much. What's stopping them looking in the draw and listing what's there I can't rightly say. I assume there's no track or controllers though. And if the Lima Strathclyde Transport Sprinter (class 156?) is gone there will be actual tears shed!

 

Thank you - I'll let you know when I do what's survived. I'll definitely be needing track though.

 

Edit: God, I sound a right spoit bastard. Love you dad. (as long as you've saved the Sprinter and the SNCF rolling stock)

[morris_ital_lover]

Just in case he hasn't there seems to be a few on ebay ATM:

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lima-L205054- ... 58919d8721

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LIMA-OO-GAUGE ... 256b266d4c

[tonedepear]

Aye, thank you. I was afraid to look! £55 is pretty good for NOS!

 

Still more than I'd like to pay for something I already own, mind.

[retrogeezer]

thats a bummer but can't believe you let them move without making sure the stuff was safe!