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

[Mrs Pingu]

Having just read the sizes of duvets (eg single 130cm wide vs super king 260cm wide) the scandi thing of having 2 single duvets on a double bed makes sense.

It's what we do. It also allows for one person liking a heavier duvet than the other.  Some years back, MrsT bought a summer/winter duvet set with a thin duvet intended to be added to the heavy one in winter. I use the thin one all winter and she uses the other one most of the year.  In the end, though, I prefer blankets.

Instead of the above we have a 4.5 tog duvet all year and a bedspread which lives on my side of the bed. All year.
It doesn't really need to be there in the summer but I don't like having a bare bum when it gets stolen by Pingu and/or the cats.

[Kim]

Our duvet arrangements have been thrown out of whack by the arrival of double glazing and new, non-knackered duvets.  Used to be that we'd have a 4.5TOG for summer, and a 10.5 for not-summer, with the non-default one within grabbing range at the bottom of the bed in case of excess coolth.

But it seems that the 4.5 is now mostly adequate all year round.  Unless you're barakta, who complains that it isn't heavy enough^[1].   

Obviously what we really need is a cat...


_{[1] She quite liked an autistic friend's weighted blanket, whereas I thought it felt like having a sack of ball bearings on your lap.  I mean, I like it when a cat snuggles on my lap, but ball bearings do nothing for me.  Obviously some sensory thing I'm missing...}

[Cudzoziemiec]

Present for Barakta: https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/11016181052

[ian]

Too hot to use any this kind of year, it's jimjams only. Bad Cat generally, at some point, inveigles her way between us, firstly vertical so she fits in the gap without us noticing. Once installed, she gradually horizontalizes and extends until she has annexed half the bed and we're perilously perched on either edge.

[ian]

Bonfires again. I guess people are burning waste rather than taking it to the tip, hence the acrid fumes yet again rolling through the valley.

Well, it's not like we're in the middle of a global pandemic of a respiratory illness, is it?

[Kim]

I kept getting vague burning smells yesterday, which I thought impressive given the damp conditions.  My webby SCIENCE shows the PM10 count was somewhat elevated, but my Stupid Lungs were non-fussed.

[ian]

Seems to have dissipated now, but it was eye-scratchingly acrid. I think it might have be the house of the underground lair. The problem is that we live in a steep sided valley, so any smoke mostly collects.

OK, I confess to my own crimes, on the eve of our last house move, my wife turned up with a bin bag full over every receipt, bill, and bag statement ever. And a broken and exhausted shredder.

Boy. Fire. BBQ.

Four hours and much, much smoke later...

[Gattopardo]

Cleaning others mess and they watch on. 

They offer to clean the bathroom that only they use, but you can see what has been cleaned.  The bath meeded scrubbing with citric acid powder, the toilets needed hydrochloric acid to clean the bowl. 

Tempted to leave a turd in the bath as a gift.

[T42]

Bloody fed up with mask/no-mask censoriousness, especially when the hypercritical one is talking to me about others.

[CAMRAMan]

Fleabay seller: if the payment is on hold because your PayPal account is not used often, please don't assume that my turning up and scanning the QR collection code is magically going to fix things. Surely the obvious thing to do is to call them to explain. I really don't want to drive 2 hours to run into problems that you can easily fix beforehand. (This has the potential to turn into a rant...)

And self: When selling walking boots that you tried on and decided were too small without lacing them up, make sure all the loops and hooks are intact BEFORE selling them. Eejit!

[barakta]

Present for Barakta: https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/11016181052

I've been threatening to get a weighted blanket, Kim hates them.

[CAMRAMan]

Tesco: I've got a new bank account and debit card, so I wanted to add it to my account with you. With Sainsburys this was achieved very easily. However, I can only do so with you when I'm placing an order, only I don't want to place an order, I simply want to update my details. ICBA faffing around with you, so I'll shop elsewhere.

[ElyDave]

Present for Barakta: https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/11016181052

I've been threatening to get a weighted blanket, Kim hates them.

We've used one with my son, only in the winter though, it is surprisingly warm even if that is not the intent.  I've lain under it and it's quite snuggly

[T42]

Just got a chunk of wall panelling ready to go over to the house so that I can drill fixing holes and it starts to rain.

[Gattopardo]

The joy of cleaning and discovering stuff that is missing.  Some tenants really are thieves, and general scum bags. 

[ElyDave]

I must be turning into an middle-aged curmudgeon, I'm finding the whole renewed Major Tom kerfuffle around his investiture to be intensely irritating. He had a hip replacement, he did his physio, does that really warrant such a fuss?

[Polar Bear]

In normal circumstances I would entirely agree but he did something our politicos can never manage: he brought together people from all walks of life to support a common cause.

I can see how the fascist party rhetoric is already lining up the NHS for sweeping "privatisation" because we all know don't we that the private "for profit" sector can always squeeze the pips, er I mean do a better job.  Captain Tom Rtd. as he was then simply cut through all of the politicised crap that pervades our society through every right wing press and social media portal and managed something both necessary and good at a time when it is most needed.

[robgul]

British Cycling renewal notice arrived by email this morning - "expires in 2 days and all your benefits* will no longer be valid" -  pretty poor admin with just 2 days before being cast adrift?   

Yep, I know I can set up a DD but to keep life simple I have as few of them as possible.

* the only "benefit" I want is the 3P insurance which I need for my club membership.

[barakta]

I must be turning into an middle-aged curmudgeon, I'm finding the whole renewed Major Tom kerfuffle around his investiture to be intensely irritating. He had a hip replacement, he did his physio, does that really warrant such a fuss?

I just feel it's a massive amount of crip-spiration. The sort of thing which is thrown at people like me with mobility difficulties "Major Tom had a surgery and then he walked umpty-zillion miles, so you're just being lazy" even though my hip issues are more complicated and the good Major was very very lucky to get that level of recovery even if he worked hard for it... 

I also find this idea that we applaud older folk for being so 'vital' if they can function into their 90s, which implies those who got dementia or other ill-health are some how less good people. Ableist A F.

Major Tom shouldn't have needed to raise money for the NHS or allied entities.

Also, there are people who do 'good works' for years and years and years and don't go viral. Major Tom goes viral once and gets a knighthood (ob rant about racist colonial empirey honours systems not provided here due to lack of arsedness on my part).

[T42]

It seems that anyone who becomes well-known will eventually be belittled or torn to bits on the internet.

[barakta]

I have nothing against Major Tom, I do object to inspiration "inspo" porn which he is probably inadvertently perpetuating...

[T42]

I rather think that I'm just objecting to the internet.

[andrewc]

It's time to get rid of my 30+ year old microwave, as it doesn't rotate or heat properly anymore.  Another bag of misc electronic waste as well, I'm sure wall warts breed like tribbles.   


The local tip is open, but big queues of cars , however someone in Twitter said he went to the front on his bike & was waved straight in.    So I break out the trailer , carry everything down the stairs & enjoy some of Liverpool's finest road surfaces*, and new physically divided cycle lanes that are a bit narrow.....  get to the recycling centre at 18:30 & am told , no way mate,   no cyclists or motorbikes. 


Pedal sadly home, keeping an eye open for a convenient skip...


*I'm lying,  the council has been starved of cash for decades. The roads are terrible.

[andytheflyer]

.....  get to the recycling centre at 18:30 & am told , no way mate,   no cyclists or motorbikes. 

Because some 2 year old has had a go at something called a Risk Assessment with his crayon and deemed it "unsafe". Not that they'll ever get out of those nappies......

[andrewc]

After The Great Collapsing Chair Disaster of 2014 I splurged on a 2nd hand Humanscale Freedom chair, because my arse (and back) are worth it.     


The plastic leatherette arm pads are now splitting ,  replacements are available for How Much ££!!   (£110 a pair).  I could probably buy a cheap Ikea chair for that much