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

[Guy]

Just phoned GP for appointment to renew meds.  Only time available 13h20 tomorrow, in the middle of the best cycling day Météo France has forecast for a month.

At least your appointment is reasonably quick. I phoned the quack this a.m. for the same reason as you. 11.40 on Wed 13th March is, apparently, the earliest they can fit me in. Just as well I'm not relying on these things to keep my heart beating or anything trivial like that, innit.

[T42]

Got it revised to the following morning; and now of course the forecast has degenerated.

[Beardy]

Travel lodge. Being a person not if modest proportions¹ I find their minimist² philosophy somewhat trying. And in just which universe the bed we slept in last night qualifies as a king size I’m not entirely sure.
And having one person to cook, serve at the bar and act as receptionist is not going to result in any way a service that is even acceptable. I didn’t shout at her because it’s not exactly her fault is it.

1. A six footer with a 44” chests BEFORE 40 years of good living have added their contribution.

2. Squeezing as much as physically possible into a given space rather than minimalist which I would adhere to if I was in any way organised.

[T42]

The arm of my office chair just broke. Rats. I've only had the thing since 1997.

[hellymedic]

I washed a nice fleecy blanket in the machine.
The fabric is fine but the stitching holding the edge binding has unravelled down the whole length of one edge.
I don't have a sewing machine and can't hold a needle.

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

[barakta]

Anyone you know up for skillshare/helping out? Annoyingly easy for those who can... If we were closer I'd volunteer (Kim) for the job   I can't operate sewing machines anymore *glares at shoulder*

[andrewc]

Anywhere that does alterations could probably do it, but would charge.     Don't you have this huge extended family ?           It's ages since I've sewn anything other than the occasional button.   I used to have to repair my gi's & also sew badges on them.  hard work with heavy duty canvas.   My carradice (carradi ?)  need some TLC as well.

[hellymedic]

I do have a HUGE extended family, none of whom do any handicrafts or sewing. Nobody has a sewing machine. They are all consumers, not fixers.

They'd either buy new, throw out or Get Someone Else to do this sort of thing.

I'll ask my Romanian cleaning lady friend if she knows anyone but most of her community live in very crowded places, where there's scant space for sewing things.

Otherwise, we'll approach a localish dry cleaner, who'll probably charge more than the replacement cost of the blanket.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Tailor?

[hellymedic]

I saw some of these online locally. Prices are eye-watering; that's the problem. Cost of repair will exceed purchase price.

We live in a shit throwaway society, where prices are being kept down by using cheap sweatshop labour.

I'll ask around a few Facebook friends...

[LittleWheelsandBig]

HK has raised her hand for repairing. I’ll let you two sort out how, where, etc.

[andytheflyer]

Grumble, grumble.

This guy, known to us as an entertaining (and yet informative) source of magic smoke, sparks and other electrical entertainment, has let us down.

No smoke, no sparks, and a waste of perfectly good vodka.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgY04l0CuEs

But  nevertheless.

[andytheflyer]

Bastards.  Scammers.  But I beat you to it.

First one, allegedly from HMG telling me I'd got a tax refund of £124 as a result of some bug that's going around.  You'd have a better chance if your URL looked like the HMG URL.  But it didn't, so I neglected to click on the link.  Ha ha.

Then another one a few minutes later.  This time, apparently, the Direct Debit that pays my TV licence every June had been declined.  Well, since it's not due, I doubted it.  And again, since the URL looked nothing like anything official, I again declined to click on the link.

The MicroSoft/BT/etc people who ring now get a slightly toned down version of robust Anglo Saxon, after my wife felt I was being a bit unkind.  I still accuse them of being filthy, criminals, etc.  Makes me feel better.  Sometimes they even put the phone down on me. Ha ha.  I win. Again.

[andyoxon]

Made the mistake of walking around on the lawn with sandals on, and found before going inside, that I'd scooped up a very soft, 'neighbourhood domestic pet' poo on sandal & between my toes...  Will spare you the photo.

[T42]

Two perfect cycling days have gone by unused 'cos my left Achilles is sulking.

[Kim]

Two perfect cycling days have gone by unused 'cos my left Achilles is sulking.

Symapthies.  I hate it when that happens.

[T42]

Thanks! Damn thing waited two days after my last ride to do it, too.

[Beardy]

Over the weekend while we were away in the West Country visiting Ms Beardy the elder (Now Mrs E), Dr Beardy bought me a new Garmin as an anniversary of my start of existence gift. Yea! She won’t let my have the said gift until Tuesday. Boo!

[ian]

House around the corner and up the road from ours, what the fuck are you building? For weeks now they've filling skips with rubble. THUNK! CRASH! Are they tunnelling to the centre of the Earth? Building a SMERSH HQ? I can't be bothered going to look, but stop it.

Also the owners of leafblowers. Infernal devices whose only use appears to be primarily to generate noise while distributing garden crud onto the public highway where it'll mostly blow back into their garden or someone else's.

[Kim]

House around the corner and up the road from ours, what the fuck are you building? For weeks now they've filling skips with rubble. THUNK! CRASH! Are they tunnelling to the centre of the Earth? Building a SMERSH HQ? I can't be bothered going to look, but stop it.

Maybe they found a Birmingham Central Library under the patio?  Could happen to anyone...

[Cudzoziemiec]

Also the owners of leafblowers. Infernal devices whose only use appears to be primarily to generate noise while distributing garden crud onto the public highway where it'll mostly blow back into their garden or someone else's.

When the area of the world of which I am ruler is extended from my synapses to some territory, possession, use, sale and manufacture of a leafblower shall be punishable by a suitable punishment and you shall be minister for the prevention of leafblowers.

[Kim]

Also the owners of leafblowers. Infernal devices whose only use appears to be primarily to generate noise while distributing garden crud onto the public highway where it'll mostly blow back into their garden or someone else's.

When the area of the world of which I am ruler is extended from my synapses to some territory, possession, use, sale and manufacture of a leafblower shall be punishable by a suitable punishment and you shall be minister for the prevention of leafblowers.

I reckon we should just put Colin Furze in charge of them.

[andrewc]

House around the corner and up the road from ours, what the fuck are you building? For weeks now they've filling skips with rubble. THUNK! CRASH! Are they tunnelling to the centre of the Earth? Building a SMERSH HQ? I can't be bothered going to look, but stop it.

Maybe they found a Birmingham Central Library under the patio?  Could happen to anyone...

Belatedly building a virus proof bunker..... 

[mrcharly-YHT]

House around the corner and up the road from ours, what the fuck are you building? For weeks now they've filling skips with rubble. THUNK! CRASH! Are they tunnelling to the centre of the Earth? Building a SMERSH HQ? I can't be bothered going to look, but stop it.

Maybe they found a Birmingham Central Library under the patio?  Could happen to anyone...

Belatedly building a virus proof bunker.....

Building extra storage for their toilet paper. With a nuke-proof vault door and everything.

[ian]

I can only assume they're having their back garden excavated and flattened (we all live on a steep 25%+ hill). Possibly they're building a scale model of the Nazca lines to guide in passing UFOs.

All these stupid projects have one outcome, and that involves even more water torrenting down the street.