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

[Mrs Pingu]

Aw, all those homes for beetles and beasties gone.

[CAMRAMan]

As if reinforcement of my opinion of my racist, brexiteer brother were hardly needed, he opines this evening that Bozzer will make a good prime minister...

[Beardy]

I've just become irrationally angry with someone on a faceplant* group who started addressing me as "pal".
I've never met him, never likely to, and am extremely unlikely to ever be his 'pal'.
I don't know if this is an age thing, but it gets my goat!
*I've blocked more people on this moderated, invite only, group (for Canal Volunteers) than anywhere else, including twatter. Odd isn't it?

I’ve heard/read elsewhere that a significant number of canal users are rather to the right politically, and this is especially true of those that live on the canals. It’s sad to say that your post tends to confirm this point of view. 

[ian]

Aw, all those homes for beetles and beasties gone.

We'll just have the crown removed down to the top of the fence (it overhangs The Asbestos Palace and it's a full-size silver birch that I presume succumbed to old age, they only live sixty or so years, so that would make it contemporaneous with the construction of The Palace). Bugs can still make a home in the trunk and we'll let the hazel next door continue to grow. Anyway, there's a valid point that bits of the crown will fall off and land on someone's head or more importantly my roof.

British people are curiously fearful of trees anywhere near their house.

[Mrs Pingu]

 

[Mr Larrington]

There is a silver birch in a garden adjacent to the Parade Ground of Fort Larrington which was already very large when the Royal Regiment of Larringtons moved there in 1975.  I hope that when it falls over it chooses to do so at right-angles to my inheritance

[andrewc]

Don’t people want my money?  I phoned 2 local independent driving instructors to book some refresher lessons (not driven for 20 years).  Left voicemails with my number.  24 hours later, no response.

[andrewc]

2nd grumble of the day.  I've got a load of papers I want to tidy away safely, so I think I'll get a couple of box files.  All I can find are cheap nasty ones with lightweight plastic clips for retaining the papers, they look like they'll fall apart in a month.   Then I look at the price of Rexel or Eastlight files          Time for a scavenge around the office perhaps...

[Canardly]

We have moved onto larger clear plastic boxes for filing as the old box files are overlowing and decent quality replacements are stupidly expensive. We do go through the paper from time to time and have a shred in. The Tesco et al box file shaped things fall apart pdq.

[Canardly]

Don’t people want my money?  I phoned 2 local independent driving instructors to book some refresher lessons (not driven for 20 years).  Left voicemails with my number.  24 hours later, no response.

This lot come to you but not cheap
https://www.advanced-driving.co.uk/specialist-courses/
See the confidence builder bit.

[ElyDave]

FFS - it's surprising how much you miss your abdominal strength, after one's six pack abs have been filleted and inner tubes fiddled about with... Even turning in bed is difficult, let alone getting into a car (as a passenger), or doing all those little things like picking mail up from the floor...   

Just been 22 days since my surgery, and I'm still all weak and feeble...

I'm not surprised TBH, 9 months on and I'm still feeling the effects of my accident in my hips and back.

[T42]

The football season has started.

[robgul]

The football season has started.

.... it doesn't appear to have stopped?   The overlap with the gentlemanly sport played with the small red (or sometimes white) ball is rather more than it should be.

Rob

[Canardly]

Today's articles relating to premier clubs spending £1.5 billion on players this year whilst paying staff the minimum wage, are quite telling.

[T42]

The football season has started.

.... it doesn't appear to have stopped?   The overlap with the gentlemanly sport played with the small red (or sometimes white) ball is rather more than it should be.

Rob

In France there is maybe a month's respite, then we're back to "France" meaning either the nation or the football team.  Half the radio news today was about who's being a spoilt brat, who's costing the most and who's been accused of rape.

[essexian]

Well, I for one am looking forward to the football season.... not the fancy dan overpaid prima donnas that play in the Premier League....that "football" is unwatchable now given the introduction of the joke that is VAR but the proper game played by people who do so just for the fun of it.

So, my next few months will be spent cycling to exciting places like Newport (Shropshire), Wellington (Shropshire), Eccleshall, Stone, Brocton. Wolverhampton, Stoke and the like and back to watch matches costing normally less than a fiver to attend.

The one thing I will grumble about is how cold winters are now...back in the day I would attend in a pair of jeans and a teeshirt but now......shiver!

[rafletcher]

This week I watched 2 men from Chargemaster installing 3 Polar EV charging points ay work, to encourage EV use (we probably get a tax break for doing so). They took 3 days - it’s grant funded so they spin it out I guess. Each morning when I arrived at work around 07:30 one van was parked across the three bays, diesel engine idling. One morning it was still idling, with no sign of any work being done, at 08:45  when his companion, also in a diesel van, arrived.

Sub grumble. We are chronically short of parking, and these three spaces are now EV only.  One person on staff has an EV. And the charging isn’t free, it’s 17p / kWh. I think, now I’m staff, I’ll have a moan about provision of cycle parking facilities.

[essexian]

If you own a large dog.... I mean LARGE dog, why do you walk it off the lead when you know it chases cyclists? I ask as "Billy" the dog (looked like a very hairy Great Dane) chased me twice during my ride this morning. And you knew it chases as you tried to get between it and me both times.

The reason this isn't a rant is that the dog was too stupid to work out that I was going down hill so could out pace him. Going up hill would have been another thing!

So, PUT YOU DOG ON A LEAD when out on public roads/other places where cyclists are!

[T42]

MISSING: Great Dane, very friendly, answers to name of BILLY. Loves cyclists. Reward for return, extra if lead and arm included.

[Beardy]

I pay for amazon prime, mainly for the one day delivery which is usually pretty reliable. But there seems to be more and more stuff, in this case a number of weighty tomes for Dr Beardy (Mrs), which have a two day delivery date even though the email proudly proclaims a guaranteed 1 day delivery. 

[chrisbainbridge]

I pay for amazon prime, mainly for the one day delivery which is usually pretty reliable. But there seems to be more and more stuff, in this case a number of weighty tomes for Dr Beardy (Mrs), which have a two day delivery date even though the email proudly proclaims a guaranteed 1 day delivery. 

I have noted that as well.

[ian]

Me too.

I ostensibly pay for it for the video too – though it's been a while since I watched anything on it, and most of the movies we have watched recently have been pay-to-view. Fast delivery is nice, but to be honest, it's not like I'm regularly buying things or can't wait a day or three.

[chrisbainbridge]

I do watch the prime television and movies. We found the last season of Madam secretary free on there and a couple of others are good on the turbo. Netflix has gone all weird and violent it seems for its series offerings.

I am beginning to wonder if Netflix is sustainable as a model now all the other film and tv, especially Disney, have got into streaming.

[ian]

Lax-sphinctered gufflords on my train this morning, put a fucking cork in it, it was like travelling in canister of compressed arsegas.

Re Netflix – they got the market-grab in, so providing they churn enough content and a small but measurable proportion is decent, and at a reasonable price, they'll stand to keep most of it. People won't be willing to pay several subscriptions (so likely some will realise it's more cost-effective to licence content than host it themselves. Netflix have hedged their bets, which is why they now spend most of their money on original content (quality notwithstanding).

[Cudzoziemiec]

The Fire based exhibition at the RWA. I enjoyed the video of people setting fire to pools of oil on what appeared to be an airfield. Also the charred stumps and some nice paintings, Turner, Ravilious and stuff. Unfortunately there were no opportunities for active fire art-making! There was also a bloke going round taking photos of absolutely every item (even where it said you were not allowed to, but none of the attendants paid any attention) with his phone making skuomorphic shutter and bleeping noises. This annoyed me a bit, then I thought, what a stupid thing to get annoyed about, and ignored his noises.