Author Topic: The Grumble Thread - No energy for a full on rant. (Read 1610719 times)

ian · « **Reply #10050 on:** 13 June, 2018, 10:34:20 am »

I just noticed the nice silver birch by our house seems to be dead or mostly there. Probably fair enough, expect it's been there since the house was built in the late sixties (and we had to get it topped and cropped, rather too aggressively because it was overhanging the house, which I doubt was good for the tree). But still, I liked it. Bah.

Jurek · « **Reply #10051 on:** 15 June, 2018, 08:13:21 am »

Highbury and Islington tube station.
Yesterday at around 16:30.
Two members of fully hi-vizzed LU staff, standing back to back, legs astride, arms out defensively, calling out 'Mind your step ladies and gentlemen, mind your step, the floor is very slippery here'.

Keen students will doubtless want to know what it was that was making the floor slippery.

I can tell you that it was a mashed banana skin.

Yes, really.

This.

From the same generation that put men on the moon.

ian · « **Reply #10052 on:** 15 June, 2018, 09:20:37 am »

And if you ask them why they've not cleaned it up, it's 'not my job' so they have to wait for a cleaning contractor. I had this discussion about a piece of fried chicken and a few fries they'd diligently secured at South Norwood station the other year.

T42 · « **Reply #10053 on:** 15 June, 2018, 10:13:46 am »

The display of flowers behind the horse-trough & pump in the next village but one is gone, replaced by a sign saying, more or less, "what idiot thought it would be a good idea to spray this with weedkiller?"

Kim · « **Reply #10054 on:** 15 June, 2018, 01:59:24 pm »

Quote from: Kim on 06 June, 2018, 02:22:29 pm

I just had a lovely phone call from someone pertaining to be from my electricity company where they refused to prove they were from my electricity company by telling me any of my account details, or even tell me why they were calling. I hung up.

To bring everyone up to date with this saga:

I set a flag in the database to send this number (which is in Redditch, not Nottingham) directly to voicemail.

After several more calls, and no sign of them giving up, I contacted Robin Hood Energy directly on their published 0800 number to ask WTF?

It turns out that they've contracted a third party agency to contact everyone they have on variable direct debit to ask if they'd like to switch to fixed direct debit. "LOL no", says I (or words to that effect), and gave them a good moaning^[1] about calls from out of the blue asking to verify account details possibly being a bad move security-wise.

I got another call about half an hour later.

I called back and was increasingly sarcastic. They promised to send a message to the agency asking to remove my number from their list.

That was yesterday.

This morning I found another, epic 1:17 second long voicemail in my inbox:

Quote

*hold music*
"Hello is that Mr Leslie?"
*awkward silence*
*clicks*
*hold music*

PEBKAC, presumably, but not exactly confidence inspiring.

(I assume Robin Hood has run out of money and is hoping to stay afloat by persuading as many customers as possible to pay next winter's gas bill now.)

_{[1] Not in the 'pissing by the door' sense.}

Cudzoziemiec · « **Reply #10055 on:** 16 June, 2018, 12:42:59 am »

Kim Leslie has a certain ring to it. Or is it Leslie Kim? Come to think of it, Kim Les-Lie is probably the next but one dictator of Everyone's Favourite People's Dictatorship.

ian · « **Reply #10056 on:** 18 June, 2018, 05:57:23 pm »

Train ticket booking again.

Quote from: Southern's Jam-Lubed Babbage Booking Engine

Tickets with an origin/destination of London Thameslink are valid for travel to/from London Bridge, London Blackfriars, City Thameslink, Farringdon and St Pancras, but are currently not available for every journey. If there is no London Thameslink fare available for your specific journey, please purchase a ticket to St Pancras instead. To confirm this will cost the same and give you exactly the same travel as if you had been able to purchase a London Thameslink ticket.

I don't know what this means as I'm going across London, which I think is is the defined purpose of Thameslink trains. What I'm supposed to do with this message is unknown it seems I can't buy a ticket for the service. There's no such place as London Thameslink and none of those stations are my destination or origin. And assuredly booking a ticket to London St Pancras and then onwards costs about £10 more.

The irony is that I've selected an Anytime return which claims to be good for any train. Yes, I know I can just choose some times that don't produce the error.

Oh why is it so fucking hard.

Oh and Southern, your great new timetable intended to improve reliability resulted around 3/4 of the your trains to my destination being cancelled yesterday. Why, I dunno, you'd given up telling us. Staff shortages I'm sure, but even the apologybot seems to have given in to embarrassment.

Basil · « **Reply #10057 on:** 18 June, 2018, 06:34:53 pm »

There is a pot by the land line where Mrs B keeps all the ball point pens that don't work.

Also any broken pencils she may have. I particularly like the ones that must have been dropped on to a hard surface at some time, thus shattering the entire length of lead within. The correct procedure with these is to have two, maybe three attempts at sharpening, give up and then, most importantly, place the pencil back in the pot.
The system works really well and should I find at any time in the future that I'm in urgent need of a ball point that doesn't work, I'll know exactly where to look.

andytheflyer · « **Reply #10058 on:** 19 June, 2018, 07:38:50 am »

Quote from: Basil on 18 June, 2018, 06:34:53 pm

There is a pot by the land line where Mrs B keeps all the ball point pens that don't work. Also any broken pencils she may have. I particularly like the ones that must have been dropped on to a hard surface at some time, thus shattering the entire length of lead within. The correct procedure with these is to have two, maybe three attempts at sharpening, give up and then, most importantly, place the pencil back in the pot.
The system works really well and should I find at any time in the future that I'm in urgent need of a ball point that doesn't work, I'll know exactly where to look.

Ah! That must be the variant of the system that my wife uses: scatter them around the house, whether they work or not, or have a point or not, so that the pot by the house phone never has one in, unless I've been lucky enough to find one (ballpoint or pencil) on my travels around the house and retuned it to its rightful place of abode. Maybe I've got OCD and she hasn't.

ian · « **Reply #10059 on:** 19 June, 2018, 09:09:55 am »

It turns out the proposed journeys I couldn’t book were on trains that don’t exist anyway (presumably because of their new timetable snafu). Improving my journey yet again. Thanks Govia Thameslink.

hellymedic · « **Reply #10060 on:** 19 June, 2018, 01:10:18 pm »

Quote from: andytheflyer on 19 June, 2018, 07:38:50 am

Quote from: Basil on 18 June, 2018, 06:34:53 pm
There is a pot by the land line where Mrs B keeps all the ball point pens that don't work. Also any broken pencils she may have. I particularly like the ones that must have been dropped on to a hard surface at some time, thus shattering the entire length of lead within. The correct procedure with these is to have two, maybe three attempts at sharpening, give up and then, most importantly, place the pencil back in the pot.
The system works really well and should I find at any time in the future that I'm in urgent need of a ball point that doesn't work, I'll know exactly where to look.

Ah! That must be the variant of the system that my wife uses: scatter them around the house, whether they work or not, or have a point or not, so that the pot by the house phone never has one in, unless I've been lucky enough to find one (ballpoint or pencil) on my travels around the house and retuned it to its rightful place of abode. Maybe I've got OCD and she hasn't.

I have various 'desk tidies' filled with pens and other bits around the house.
I can't hold or use a pen.
Pens that work when put in these pots stop working due to ink evaporation and disuse; most frustrating!

Pencils are usually OK but the sharpening faerie has gone AWOL.

Kim · « **Reply #10061 on:** 19 June, 2018, 01:38:19 pm »

My 'landline' phone is within easy reach of a perfectly good computer.

Barakta gets transcripts of her phone calls anyway, at least when the NGTLite app doesn't crash.

Pens that don't work go in the bin. Unless they've got Aston Web Student Hub written on them, in which case they're a metaphor.

Pencils mostly live with the woodworking tools.

It's finding something to write/doodle/catch stray glue on that's usually trickier. Often you can take a sheet of fail from the out tray of the Laserjet, but that's awkward if you're downstairs.

ian · « **Reply #10062 on:** 19 June, 2018, 09:18:33 pm »

I never throw away non-working pens. No one can be sure they won't spontaneously start to work again in future.

Canardly · « **Reply #10063 on:** 19 June, 2018, 10:42:44 pm »

Can't find details of my maternal great grandfather despite knowing he served in WW1 and in which service and that he survived the war. Death of his son on the SS Lancastria and subsequent burning of his service records in WW2 due to bombs doesn't help, added to which my maternal grandmother died in 1944 and was also bombed out in the 1940 blitz. On the paternal side have got back to 1591 so far, so quite chuffed.,

perpetual dan · « **Reply #10064 on:** 20 June, 2018, 08:44:44 am »

Tried to book my bike onto the south west sleeper last night. It's hard to tell whether the website is broken or the bike spaces are full.

Sent from my LG-H850 using Tapatalk

Mrs Pingu · « **Reply #10065 on:** 20 June, 2018, 06:09:27 pm »

I presented a paper at a conference today. To lighten it up (4pm is late enough to be asking anyone to pay attention) I included a photo of a dinosaur on a bike. Didn't notice much in the way of amusement.
Luddites.

Kim · « **Reply #10066 on:** 20 June, 2018, 07:16:00 pm »

Quote from: Mrs Pingu on 20 June, 2018, 06:09:27 pm

I presented a paper at a conference today. To lighten it up (4pm is late enough to be asking anyone to pay attention) I included a photo of a dinosaur on a bike. Didn't notice much in the way of amusement.
Luddites.

What kind of bike?

(I expect this would get a different response over on Yet Another Dinosaur Forum.)

Mrs Pingu · « **Reply #10067 on:** 20 June, 2018, 07:23:11 pm »

A shit looking bike!

Kim · « **Reply #10068 on:** 20 June, 2018, 07:27:42 pm »

That's one of those dockless hire things the Mancunians have, isn't it? Something very weird going on behind the front wheel (amongst other places). I suppose it's as practical a means of transport for an inflatable T-Rex as anything else...

woollypigs · « **Reply #10069 on:** 20 June, 2018, 07:32:38 pm »

but looks cool with a dino on it

mcshroom · « **Reply #10070 on:** 20 June, 2018, 07:36:15 pm »

Not sure I'm keen on the potential tail/rear wheel interface!

Mr Larrington · « **Reply #10071 on:** 21 June, 2018, 07:39:27 am »

Looks like one of the designs that Mike Burrows keeps uncharacteristically quiet about.

Canardly · « **Reply #10072 on:** 21 June, 2018, 11:29:55 am »

Taxes will rise following Brexit. What a huge surprise. Now then what is the best way to soften them up mmmmm?

ElyDave · « **Reply #10073 on:** 21 June, 2018, 11:34:06 am »

Quote from: Mrs Pingu on 20 June, 2018, 07:23:11 pm

A shit looking bike!

I might nick that one for my next presentation

Paul · « **Reply #10074 on:** 21 June, 2018, 01:29:56 pm »

Prehistoric feminists updated the old fish/bicycle simile when the lizards appeared.

How does it handle? Pterribly!