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

[hellymedic]

Those nice people at connectright have written to me because they're going to check everyone's sewage connections.
Apparently, the surface water sewer should get only surface water. (Fair enough but I've never given the matter any thought.)
Inspecting my drains it seems only the toilets empty into the soil stack. There is no evidence that the bath, kitchen sink or anything else, like washing machine & shower ever drained into the soil stack as they should.

The connectright leaflet suggests this would not cost much to put right and threatens fines of up to £20,000 for misconnection.

My kitchen sink drains into the surface water drain. There's a door + new ramp and half the house between the kitchen sink and the ancient cast iron soil stack.

I do not see this a an inexpensive problem...

As far as I can tell, you just need to write to your water&sewage service provider to tell them that you are aware of the misconnection and that due to there not being a soil drain accessible from the kitchen, correcting those connections would not be financially practicable.

If you don't write and tell them this, they can get radgy.

Thanks!
I'll phone the chap in the letter as he left a phone number.
It seems that nobody has noticed this issue in the 81 years since the house was built. I'm sure they didn't have a washing machine plumbed in, in 1932 but there must have been a kitchen sink and bath.
I might ask David to pop next door to see the neighbour's arrangement. Neighbour will know of any alterations; he moved into the newly-built house when he was eight!

[Kim]

Could be that everything (inc surface runoff) drains into the foul sewer?  Not an uncommon arrangement, as that's how the Victorians did it, in spite of being suboptimal for treatment plants.  Half of London would be in a similar situation...

[hellymedic]

Could be that everything (inc surface runoff) drains into the foul sewer?  Not an uncommon arrangement, as that's how the Victorians did it, in spite of being suboptimal for treatment plants.  Half of London would be in a similar situation...

It's possible.
I'll get David to run the garden hose at the gullies and look at the manholes.
The house probably operates in a post Victorian manner though.

[andyoxon]

A4 card backed envelope with "DO NOT BEND" on, shoved through the letter box by RoyalMail and...bent; with us all in the house.  They couldn't even be bothered to ring the bell.   

[Cudzoziemiec]

The neighbour's just been round to complain about our loud music. Thing is, we're not playing any. And if we were, it wouldn't be the awful '80s soft rock that's currently booming out from - can't tell where. I think it's the house next door, which is divided into several flats, impossible to say which one it's from - I'm not even sure it's that house. Anyway, neighbour has gone to a friend's house to study, she was rather apologetic, but justifiably annoyed. Ah - quiet now!

[Cudzoziemiec]

No, started again. Chicago or something like that. Never mind, back to work, 67 pages to check for Monday morning.

[perpetual dan]

Our neighbour got going with a chainsaw at half 8 this morning. Fairly easy to work out which neighbour as he was up a tree with a chainsaw. I'd have been annoyed if I was still in bed or trying to think, but it takes me a while to get between the two states.

[RJ]

Allinsons - your extra strong flour would benefit from being packed in extra-strong bags 

[Kim]

I second the above grumble.

[Tim Hall]

I second the above grumble.

On a similar note, I bought a four pack of Peroni (a type of bottled Italian beer m'lud) held together by a cardboard sleeve. Nicely chilled. And by laying it on its side, it fitted nicely in my bar bag. Cycle off to friend's house for a do. Condensation builds up on cold bottles, causing floppiness of the cardboard. Arrive, lift out four pack from bar bag. Floppy cardboard fails to hold bottles, which escape onto blockwork drive, shattering and spilling their contents. Bum.

[CAMRAMan]

Colleague: there was nothing in your message asking for me to call back, nor did it seem necessary. If you wanted me to call back you should have said. Don't get all passive aggressive with your notes. I'm not paid enough for that crap.

[Andrij]

Snuck out of the office to grab a photo or three of a flying boat over Tower Bridge.  I was expecting him¹ to fly E->W, but he flew N->S.    I managed one picture, but won't know how 'good' it is until I get home.²

I may try to catch the return on Sunday.


¹ Met friends of the pilot on London Bridge, who referred to the pilot as 'he'.
² Shoot raw (NEF) and don't have software on my work computer to view that format.

[clarion]

Oh.  I thought the info said he would be flying up the river.

I knew it was happening, and so tantalisingly close to the office, too, but there was no way I could get there.

[Ruth]

Crusty's bike has been stolen. His red MTB. His favourite   

[hellymedic]

Crusty's bike has been stolen. His red MTB. His favourite   

 

[mcshroom]

Crusty's bike has been stolen. His red MTB. His favourite   

Oh no. Is that the new one

My grumble, looks like one of our local farmers has decided to spread mud and cow shit all over NCN72 again. The corner under the bridge (about 3/4 of the way up the pic) is very slippery. Previous form would suggest this mess will be added to for the next few months (it reached above my 32mm marathons last year at one point). I know this is the countryside and we expect a little mud, but this one farmer really takes the piss and I few of my friends have come off on this slick in the past (the farmer is also well known for routinely leaving all their gates open across the cyclepath on the next bit making it hard to get down the track).

[Basil]

one of our local farmers has decided to spread mud and cow shit all over NCN72 again. The corner under the bridge (about 3/4 of the way up the pic) is very slippery. Previous form would suggest this mess will be added to for the next few months (it reached above my 32mm marathons last year at one point). I know this is the countryside and we expect a little mud, but this one farmer really takes the piss and I few of my friends have come off on this slick in the past (the farmer is also well known for routinely leaving all their gates open across the cyclepath on the next bit making it hard to get down the track).

Erm,  is there not a proper road you could use?    Just askin', like. 

[mcshroom]

one of our local farmers has decided to spread mud and cow shit all over NCN72 again. The corner under the bridge (about 3/4 of the way up the pic) is very slippery. Previous form would suggest this mess will be added to for the next few months (it reached above my 32mm marathons last year at one point). I know this is the countryside and we expect a little mud, but this one farmer really takes the piss and I few of my friends have come off on this slick in the past (the farmer is also well known for routinely leaving all their gates open across the cyclepath on the next bit making it hard to get down the track).

Erm,  is there not a proper road you could use?    Just askin', like. 

There is, a big wide NSL one that I also use. Unusually for Sustrans paths, this cycle path is nicer though, and also this is a national touring route (Hadrian's Cycle Way) so the tourists won't necessarily know the way round.

After the tunnel under the Main road the path looks like this: -

then it carries on along an old railway embankment with views out to sea, and finishes on another small road passing the chapel


Diverting round means you miss all that and instead get to climb up a pretty dull A-standard road with Sellafield commuters and lorries flying past at 60+ mph.

[Basil]

 

[interzen]

one of our local farmers has decided to spread mud and cow shit all over NCN72 again. The corner under the bridge (about 3/4 of the way up the pic) is very slippery. Previous form would suggest this mess will be added to for the next few months (it reached above my 32mm marathons last year at one point). I know this is the countryside and we expect a little mud, but this one farmer really takes the piss and I few of my friends have come off on this slick in the past (the farmer is also well known for routinely leaving all their gates open across the cyclepath on the next bit making it hard to get down the track).

Erm,  is there not a proper road you could use?    Just askin', like. 

*cough*fatbike*cough* 

Today's grumble: woke up this morning with very limited range of movement in my left arm - whilst it sounds like the opening couplet from a naff blues song, it's still bloody annoying.

I suspect trapped nerve, especially as it doesn't 'feel' like muscular pain ...

[CAMRAMan]

Specsavers Leamington: You were supposed to call me when my new glasses were ready. So, after two weeks & I call you, why do you ask me if I have fixed an appointment to have them fitted? How the heck could I have done that when I was waiting for you to call. Muppets.

[essexian]

Sigh.... when I end a group email with the comment that: "Sorry, I am making less sense than normal".... I don't expect 11 emails back confirming the fact. 

Need holiday.

[Basil]

Well, at least it shows that at least 11 people read the whole e-mail.

[billplumtree]

I've taken to putting bad jokes, shamelessly stolen from The truly terrible jokes thread, at the end of my work emails as a who-has-read-this-far indicator.




Does anyone know where I sign up to become Amish? I can't seem to find their website.
(yeah, mostly they are Biff's, actually)

[L CC]

My grumble, looks like one of our local farmers has decided to spread mud and cow shit all over NCN72 again. The corner under the bridge (about 3/4 of the way up the pic) is very slippery. Previous form would suggest this mess will be added to for the next few months (it reached above my 32mm marathons last year at one point). I know this is the countryside and we expect a little mud, but this one farmer really takes the piss and I few of my friends have come off on this slick in the past (the farmer is also well known for routinely leaving all their gates open across the cyclepath on the next bit making it hard to get down the track).

To you, it's NCN72 cyclepath. To him, it's the track for getting his cows in to milk. He probably leaves 'all his gates open across the cyclepath' so his cows can walk into/ out of the right field. You know he (probably) isn't antagonistic to cyclists. He's (probably) not doing it to make trouble. He's (probably) just trying to make a living. It (possibly) was a track for his cows long before it was NCN72.