The grumpy thread

[eddyramrod]

Facebook. It's my new toy, and a load of fun, but keeps me away from here!

 

Also, needing to arrange a tat-collection using a slide-platform truck, of which there are many here. Because of the cashflow situation I need a driver I don't have to pay immediately, which basically means using Andreas's friend-network. Andreas has a car that needs collecting too so he's trying to get the driver to work the two jobs as one, which would do nicely. Unfortunately this means waiting for him to decide he's finished whatever else he's been doing. We've been waiting several days now...

 

Gardening. As a general principle, I hate it, because it seems to me there's a load of drudgery involved for not much result. I spent (/wasted) over an hour this evening cutting down/pulling up weeds which I know will be as tall as me again inside a month. And I've barely touched the display! Got quite a weed farm going on here, considering the back yard is supposed to be gravel and concrete.

 

The recession. I don't care whose fault it is any more, I just want someone to buy my fucking cars! Every one of them is now below half my investment and still nobody is waving money at me. If I can sell even one of them, any one, I can pay for the above-mentioned tat which I intend to ship to UK in September...

[M'coli]

  morris_ital_lover said:

VW are mastering the badge-engineering system there's the Up! and the Citigo and possibly Audi/Seat versions... there's as much difference between them as the various ADO16s. It's their Citigo's advert that the most annoying as it trys to appeal to "yoof" with their wanky faux-funny advert showing their cars as the latest piece of tech to compliment the MacBook Schmo and WANKYPHONEhd.

What gets me grumpy about these VW FuckUp!s is their size - ok, it would be difficult to match the size of the Lupo without impinging massively on the NCAP performance, but they're bigger than the new 107/C1/Aygo, FFS!

[retrogeezer]

  Peter said:

  Pete-M said:

I find that the best thing about having an eyefone is the look of confuddlement on the faces of the "JOBS IZ GOD" brigade when I happily point out that Android is much much better and that the only reason I've got an eyefone is that I it was given to me by an eyephone apologist who still can't fathom why after 12 months of owning the bloody thing I still use my trusty K750i as my phone and the eyefone as a toy.

 

I recently saw a newspaper article about obsolescence illustrated with a picture of a K800i Okay, it's no iPhone but it's not like it uses pulse dialling. I'm keeping mine until it dies - the battery life is superb.

 

 

I'd like to see that article as I still use my trusty K800i, it's a brilliant phone and takes great photos too:

 

 

I did just order an HTC One S as there was a fantastic deal on HUKD the other day but not sure if it will arrive and lots of people saying reception is crap.

[Pillock]

If you find a phone you like, stick with it. It'll take 10 years or more to phase out the GSM standards, each new standard that comes along (like the new half-arsed 4G) just adds to previous ones so your K800i and my old Nokia will work fine for decades. I change phones every 8-9 months normally but I'm a geek - just got my Galaxy S3 which is brilliant but sometimes when I just need to ring someone, I use my work Nokia 2323.

 

Power adaptors - Toshiba only ever did three types - 15v, 19v and a square one on Qosmio models. There's a few different current ratings but just go for a meaty one and it'll only draw the current it needs so a 6A 15v and a 6A 19v will power the lot. Nobody bought Qosmios anyway. Laptops will probably never be standard but there's quite a lot of crossover - HP will take Dell, Acer make no end of own brand stuff and it all takes their thin pin plug, and everything else is a 19v large pin which all gets swapped around. About 5 years ago there was a move to standardise phone connectors and some manufacturers are still dragging their heels and not using the MicroUSB (Apple, specifically).

 

With regard to external power supplies though, the very first laptops had them built in and they were heavy and hot. Adds a good half kilo to the weight of the thing which you don't want. Remember the people that build the devices just buy 500,000 power supplies in bulk so it's one less thing to have to worry about - no need for safety testing or different countries.

[Ross_K]

  Vin said:

I just had to google 'skoda citigoo' as I'd never heard of it.

 

Saw what came up through google images, then realised I saw one the other day. Well, what I saw had a VW badge on but I can't remember what the model badge said. Twas all a bit

 

I had to google it too. I've seen it around here as the VW Up. I see there's a Seat Mii as well.

 

So basically they looked at the Citroen C1/Peugeot 107/Toyota Aygo and said "Shit. We better do that too".

[Pillock]

The Up! is quite a nice car, I drove one at the Gadget Show which was to demo the "not looking where you're going" emergency braking system, which worked.

Well finished inside, I'd prefer a Lupo but the Up! is way better than the Fox.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I think the Up is pretty smart, I wouldn’t kick one outta bed, that also applies for SEAT and Skoda versions.

[dollywobbler]

  Mr_Bo11ox said:

I think the Up is pretty smart, I wouldn’t kick one outta bed, that also applies for SEAT and Skoda versions.

 

Same here. I know I'm lucky to have avoided what sound like horrific advertising decisions, but the basic car looks really smart. They're meant to be pretty good to drive as well. Not very interesting perhaps, but I can't quite see why they cause so much offence. It's like being offended by magnolia paint. "It's just so lifeless and uninspiring that it makes me want to murder kittens!"

[Ross_K]

Nobody's offended by it. Not me anyway.

 

It's another way for the plebs who can't afford the monthly payments on a Golf to get on the ladder of VW ownership. Good for them I say.

[cheguava]

  Ross_K said:

It's another way for the plebs who can't afford the monthly payments on a Golf to get on the ladder of VW ownership. Good for them I say.

 

Yup - if you can't work out the sums, it's not their fault

 

Radio ad round our way at the moment for the Seat Ibiza with some northern bird banging on -

"If you're driving, what are you driving?" Er, shite.

"Is it stunning and compact?" Er, no.

"Are you paying less than £200 a month?" Yes, £200 less.

 

Each to their own I guess.

[cort16]

As said it's the same idea as the C1, 107 Aygo setup where the cars are engineered to be cheap rather than just using cheap components. My Mrs has as C1 and you've got to admire the thinking of it's construction. 1 single bit of glass as the boot lid, the rear door is also the rear quarter, the seats are single construction, the engine is only a 1.0 3-pot but it's got vvt so still managed to put out nearly 70bhp and do 60mpg. Okay it's no 7 series BMW but it's a cheery little thing.

There definitely something to admire in small well executed cheap car. If you're designing something like an A8 you just throw the best of everything at it with almost no budget restriction but to make a 7 grand car feel like a quality item you have to think much smarter.

I've got the UP on the list for Mrs Cort's replacement car later this year. I was going to go for the Skoda version but their pronunciation of Skoda in their adverts put me right off.

[cms206]

  cheguava said:

  Ross_K said:

It's another way for the plebs who can't afford the monthly payments on a Golf to get on the ladder of VW ownership. Good for them I say.

 

Yup - if you can't work out the sums, it's not their fault

 

Radio ad round our way at the moment for the Seat Ibiza with some northern bird banging on -

"If you're driving, what are you driving?" Er, shite.

"Is it stunning and compact?" Er, no.

"Are you paying less than £200 a month?" Yes, £200 less.

 

Each to their own I guess.

 

I had an arguement on similar lines, face to face with a salesmen, that led to me being asked to Leave Macharg, Rennie & Lindsay on South Street in Glasgow.

 

"This Astra has electric front windows, -"

"So does that Cavalier"

"- power steering -"

"So does that Cavalier"

"- a CD Player -"

"So does that Cavalier"

 

Eventually when being told I could have an 18-month old Astra 1.4 with 70k on the clock for "just" £150 a month (over several thousand years, I expect), I launched into a tyrade - not only had I not come in to buy a car (my mate was) as I was more than happy with the Cavalier 1800 I had drove to the dealership in, but if I wanted to buy a second hand car from a dealer it certainly wouldn't be a bloody 1400 Astra from a bunch of moronic fuckwits pretending to not be Arnold Clark.

[fiatdaft]

Why did you bother arguing with the salesman over something like that !!

[Spiny Norman]

  fiatdaft said:

Why did you bother arguing with the salesman over something like that !!

 

It's the only remotely fun thing to do in MRL in South Street, trust me.

 

The last time I was in, I specifically told the salestwat I was a single bloke and fancied "something a bit sporty", maybe a Celica, Fiat Coupe, even an Alfa 156 or a 3 series. YOU want to know what this plonker led me to? A fucking Diseasel Vauxhall Meriva......

I didn't need to be asked to leave, I ended up telling the oily fud who had been tailing me the whole time EXACTLY what I though of him, his sales skills, his acne, his bad breath and his tie before I left.

[trigger]

Taking about new cars, at the moment I'm thinking about downsizing my Mondeo for a newer, More expensive and cheaper to run (very unautoshite i know) car and whilst at a garage this afternoon i saw one of these outside a showroom.

 

 

Now not many new cars make me go WOW but this did, it was black and just looked right (TBH it looks better in the flesh then this photo I've posted), I walked around it marvelling that Suzuki can still build such a great looking car, I wondered to myself, "what is the name of this amazing looking car i see before me?" then i looked at the badge...

 

"Kizashi"

 

What kind of twat comes up with a name like that, I don't even know how to say it yet alone spell it!!! That just completely killed the car for me.

[cort16]

And it only comes with a 2.4 pez engine and 4x4. The only ones I've ever seen belong to Suzuki dealers. It's not bad looking though.

 

I drove one of those KIA Optima 1.7 Diesels a couple of months ago and that was also a suprisingly nice car and a proper looker too.

[trigger]

Agree about those Kia's, they look fab, mind you whole Kia range look good now especially compared to the stuff they were churning out 10-15 years ago.

 

Back to that Suzuki though, how many people want a £22000+ 2.4 petrol automatic 4x4 car made buy a low budget manufacture these days, Future shite for sure.

[retrogeezer]

Loads of cars look similar now though, here is the chevy Cruze for example:

 

[Lacquer Peel]

It's a Japanese car with a name derived from a real Japanese word, it's a lot less wanky than 'Mondeo' or something.

 

  trigger said:

"Kizashi"

 

What kind of twat comes up with a name like that, I don't even know how to say it yet alone spell it!!! That just completely killed the car for me.

[retrogeezer]

  Quote

"Kizashi"

 

Bless You...

[dollywobbler]

I really like that name. It actually sounds Japanese. I hope the trim levels are things like Joy Love for Kitten Emotion or Peace Heart World Panda.

[pompei]

I think the Hyundai range looks quite impressive too. What's even more impressive is how they've moved on from the Stellar in around 30 years. Be interesting to see what kind of motors the Chinese will be producing in 30 years ...

[Craig the Princess]

20/50 oil.

 

Why is it difficult to get a mid-range 20/50. Mrs the Princess doesn't trust supermarket budget 20/50 for her Metro, so I've just spunked £19 on Halfords classic 20/50 in a tin.

[tonedepear]

Been away all weekend. The Falkirk Wheel was fucking ace, and yesterday being fathers day my daughter (Islay) got me a wee bottle of posh islay whisky (co mrs Tone I assume).

 

The whole thing was slightly soured a: by the weather and b: when we got back to Durham to unload and drop off Mrs T and Islay, and islay had gone to bed, just as I was leaving to head home for Sheffield, Mrs Tone announced she was leaving me. So I went home and drank some* of the whisky (it's glorious). I was so miserable I recorded and accappella version of an old Steve Earle song

 

So now I'm sober, and at work, and the trailer tent is on eBay (£250 to shiters) http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/251088108057 and I'm starting to regret neglecting my social circle down here to the extent of hardly knowing anyone I don't work with, especialy anyone in their 20s with corking tits. Bah.

[dollywobbler]

That's a blow Tonedepear. Sorry to hear that.

 

However, in true vulture stylee, how much does that trailer tent weight all-in? Am considering the trailer-tent option for our camping as after four years, Mrs Wobbler has decided that our self-inflating mat doesn't deliver the camping comfort we desire. Airbeds are crap too.

[trigger]

Sorry to hear about your recent shit Tony but friggin hell you have a great voice!

 

Craig, find a local motor factors that stocks Comma Premium 20/50 oil, I pay about £13 for 4.5lt at my local one.

 

[Craig the Princess]

  trigger said:

Sorry to hear about your recent shit Tony but friggin hell you have a great voice!

 

Craig, find a local motor factors that stocks Comma Premium 20/50 oil, I pay about £13 for 4.5lt at my local one.

 

 

Ooh, will have to find a stockest in Peterborough, thanks.

 

Tony, sorry about that it's a shitter.

[trigger]

Here you go! http://www.commaoil.com/productsguide/view/6/257/PRE1L

[fiatdaft]

  studebaker hawk said:

  fiatdaft said:

Why did you bother arguing with the salesman over something like that !!

 

It's the only remotely fun thing to do in MRL in South Street, trust me.

 

The last time I was in, I specifically told the salestwat I was a single bloke and fancied "something a bit sporty", maybe a Celica, Fiat Coupe, even an Alfa 156 or a 3 series. YOU want to know what this plonker led me to? A fucking Diseasel Vauxhall Meriva......

I didn't need to be asked to leave, I ended up telling the oily fud who had been tailing me the whole time EXACTLY what I though of him, his sales skills, his acne, his bad breath and his tie before I left.

 

I do have an idea why the salesman could have been like that,but it prob would sound a bit far fetched and unbelievable!

[tonedepear]

  trigger said:

Sorry to hear about your recent shit Tony but friggin hell you have a great voice!

 

Cheers Trig! Appreciated!

 

  dollywobbler said:

how much does that trailer tent weight all-in?

 

I love it, Mrs Tone HATED it, and it seems a bit excessive just on my own!

 

Ex-works 310kg

Gross Weight 420kg

 

It's light enough, certainly. Don't notice you're towing it unless you go over a speed bump at pace and it appears in mid air in your mirror!