The Grumble Thread - No energy for a full on rant.

[Vince]

Feeling particularly stupid (and uncomfortable) after walking into a metal sign attached to a lamp post.

I must stop looking a the floor for dog sh1t when I'm walking.

[clarion]

I once walked into a lamp post while reading a newspaper.

Outside my partner's house, so I had no excuse for not knowing it was there.

[Eccentrica Gallumbits]

Remember Absent-minded Mr Rabbit from the Richard Scarry stories? 

[Vince]

Remember Absent-minded Mr Rabbit from the Richard Scarry stories? 

No.

But then may be he wasn't in Busy Busy World.

[Kim]

Walking into things on the walk home from school because you're reading is an important part of growing up, surely?  In my day it was Pterry's novels that were main offenders, though I suppose these days it's usually Friendface or something.  It wasn't a really good book unless you had it confiscated in class or had to clean dogshit off your shoes because of it.

[Oaky]

SELF!!! - you are a twit!

You put a perfectly good unopened pack of 4 Energiser Lithium batteries (for GPS unit usage) somewhere "obvious" and "safe" and "impossible to miss", earlier tonight.

SO,  WHERE THE F-ing F ARE THEY?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!??

[Feanor]

http://gajitz.com/heads-up-texting-and-walking-theres-an-app-for-that/

[Oaky]

As you were.. found them ... they were, predictably, in the last place I looked.

[Eccentrica Gallumbits]

Of course they were. Only an idiot would continue looking after he'd found them.

[Ashaman42]

Ah bum, the gps mount won't fit on my bike ready for tomorrow's Audax, stupid oversize bars. I can get a different mount of eBay but not in time for tomorrow. So I either ride without gps or take the old bike.

[mcshroom]

Ah bum, the gps mount won't fit on my bike ready for tomorrow's Audax, stupid oversize bars. I can get a different mount of eBay but not in time for tomorrow. So I either ride without gps or take the old bike.

What gps/mount is it - and is there scope for bodging a mount using cable ties?

[Ashaman42]

It's a garmin Etrex Vista with this mount. I've got a plan of getting this light bracket and modifying the light section to take the garmin handlebar mount.

Though I'm not entirely certain the light bracket will fit round the bars either as it doesn't say what size it is. Not an ideal plan but Halfords is about the only place I can get to today. Worth a try at £5 anyway, plus B&Q is right next door so can look for bits and pieces to bodge some rear lights to the Bagman too.

I'll probably get the proper oversize mount in the end but this should hopefully suffice for tomorrow .

[Ashaman42]

That or I duct tape the unit to my forearm 

[mcshroom]

How about pushing out the hinge pin from the front and running a wire loop/thin cable tie through the holes with it separate?

I rounded off the screw on a mount just like that (well it was actually the oversize one) on a bike and ended up dismantling it from the hinge. As I was levering it apart the mount now looks rather scruffy but I managed to pin it back together and it's currently on my commuter.

[Ashaman42]

Do you mean just strap the top half on or extend the hinge with wire and use both halves? Either way it's worth looking at, I'll be right back.

ETA: Hmm, might work if I get some Sugru or similar to alter the raduis of the 'hole' in the top half, looks like I might need to remove the crosstop levers though, will try the Halfords doofer first I think.

[mcshroom]

I was thinking use both halves, as I'm not sure how you could attach it with just the top. If you can find a way of getting decent cable-tie grip on just the top half that may be a goer though

Just going to have a look at my mount to se how big the holes actually are. If they are big enough to get a thin cable tie through then you could try ties from the hinge holes to the screw hole from either side.

[edit]Having just looked, there's another idea. Take out the hinge, remove bottom half, put a long thin nail/tie through the two holes for the hinge on the top (they should be on the outside) and the cable-tie from that nail/tie round to the screw hole at the bottom end. Obviously, put some decent tape/inner tube underneath first

[Ashaman42]

The holes are pretty small but maybe putting the hinge pin back in the top half and ziptieing round that and through the bolt hole might work, depends on how strong the pin is really.

[mcshroom]

That's why I was thinking a nail - The hinge tube is hollow so I'm not sure how strong it is. OTOH it holds the whole mount together normally.

[Ashaman42]

Yeah, maybe use two or more ties round the tube to spread the load a bit.

[Gruff]

Ah bum, the gps mount won't fit on my bike ready for tomorrow's Audax, stupid oversize bars. I can get a different mount of eBay but not in time for tomorrow. So I either ride without gps or take the old bike.

This is why you (and everyone else) should have a 3D printer!

[Ashaman42]

I've been considering one for a while but can't really justify the cost.

Saying that would the finished product from one be strong enough for clamping with a bolt? I thought it was a bit brittle but I haven't looked that closely into it.

[mcshroom]

Npowerless

Employ some more customer service staff and give them working infrastructure - it's not as if you're short of cash. I've just been on hold for 72 minutes (After giving up three other times this week about 15 mins in) and even when I finally get through the poor harassed sounding woman at the far end of the line has to take my details and agree to ring back next week because their system is only partially working.

[Gruff]

Saying that would the finished product from one be strong enough for clamping with a bolt?

Yes, absolutely. You can design your object to be as sturdy as you need, and the materials you can print with are common industrial plastics with sound mechanical properties (such as ABS, the stuff Lego is made out of).

I have self printed objects here which are bolt clamped and I'd have no qualms printing a phone or gps holder.

[Arch]

Today, the NRM, Great Hall cafe.

I push tray with cake selection to till/hot drink counter. Girl looks at me.

Me: Two teas please.
Girl, turns to workmate who is talking to someone else, having overheard him: Oh, do you work at Wagamamas?
Him: <something or other about shifts>
Girl looks at me again.
Me: Two teas please.
Girl: Right. <inspects our cake choices, taps on till buttons> £8.35
MFWHTBAB hands over cash, gets change.
<Pause>
Me: Two teas?
Girl: Oh! <makes a tea and hands it over>
Me: TWO teas!
Girl: Oh. <makes another tea>

All the time, chatting to her workmate.

Honestly, how hard can it be?

Have sent sarky tweet to NRM.

While we're at it, the Inclinator (sort of angled lift platform) to the workshop isn't working, and a sign up says the parts are no longer available so they are looking into replacing it.

With all their workshop facilities and expertise, they can't MAKE parts?  I bet MFWHTBAB could. Stop wasting time and money on bloody Scotsman!

[essexian]

It started with a sore throat first noticed on the train back from that London last Tuesday…. Built up a bit so by the next morning, my first days Annual Leave since November 2012 I was feeling under the weather….. Thursday my sore throat was now so painful that I had to cancel my wife’s birthday lunch. Friday came the cough, the snot and the feeling mega weak….yuk, Man Flu.   

Saturday was spent in bed or sleeping on the sofa with hardly the energy to lift my head……

Sunday……….. happy, happy, happy….feeling less crap so went out for half an hour on my turbo with no ill effects….. perhaps the Man Flu has gone…..

Nope, here I am up early so I could do a 10 mile ride to the swimming pool and an hours swim but no, I feel like crap again so am going back to bed.

Such a wasted holiday weekend.