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

[ian]

I still won't accept that unexpected item in the bagging area isn't a euphemism.

[Cudzoziemiec]

It really should have been recorded in the voice of Lesley Philips or Samantha from ISIHAC. Or Rogerzilla.

[chrisbainbridge]

Ian, cosmetic removal of the little toe to fit into narrower shoes is available.

[Mr Larrington]

The till kept telling me to put $ITEM in the bag when I already had and the minion had to reassure it about half a dozen times.  I think she was as fed up with me as I was with it.

Anyway, the sole appears to be unsticking on one of my Perfectly Good Gentleman’s Mountain Bicycle shoes.  This is annoying.

[orienteer]

I still won't accept that unexpected item in the bagging area isn't a euphemism.

Unexpected item in the lunch-box area 😈

[Cudzoziemiec]

What the fuck is up with Indeed? I've just received four emails in five minutes inviting me to apply for jobs via Indeed. The emails are written in a way so as to make it look like they're from the employers concerned, but they come from an address "invitetoapply@indeed.com". I wouldn't mind if they were at least relevant, but one of them is for a motability customer service rep and another is for a cakesmith. The latter bringing to mind this situation:

And one just now for "auction house jewellery assessor". Obviously by my extensive retail expertise and expertise in precious metals and gemstones, which in my case I do not have.

[Hot Flatus]

Velux blinds.

They are just shit aren't they. Plastic parts and thin string that saws through them destroying itself in the process, and cost an extortionate amount to replace.  I've just mended mine for the 5th time in 11 years.

Shit.

[MattH]

And one just now for "auction house jewellery assessor". Obviously by my extensive retail expertise and expertise in precious metals and gemstones, which in my case I do not have.

I've probably mentioned before that some years ago my official job title was "Assistant Chief Technical Architect" - i.e. one below the top technical person in the business. I'd regularly get recruiters emailing me not-to-be-missed vacancies with fantastic career progression opportunities as an architect's assistant; duties including photocopying drawings, general office admin, making the tea etc, for minimum wage. And sometimes they'd send follow up emails asking why I wasn't jumping at such a fantastic role 

[ian]

Ian, cosmetic removal of the little toe to fit into narrower shoes is available.

Well, before I get that drastic, I'd hate to learn there truly is a use for little toes too late in the game, I've stuffed the offending shoe with highly-pressurized socks to stretch it out. More news on this exciting saga will, I'm sure, be featured in a future episode.

[Feanor]

Hydraulic boot expanders are A Thing...

https://www.skiequipmentuk.co.uk/ski_boot_spares_repairs_and_fitting3/

[Pickled Onion]

Ian, cosmetic removal of the little toe to fit into narrower shoes is available.

Well, before I get that drastic, I'd hate to learn there truly is a use for little toes too late in the game, I've stuffed the offending shoe with highly-pressurized socks to stretch it out. More news on this exciting saga will, I'm sure, be featured in a future episode.

At primary school, there was a lad with no little toes. I remember thinking at the time, having just read some stuff on evolution, that we would all have four toes in the future. And how much simpler things would be. Maybe three or two would be sufficient.

Big toes, on the other hand, are very important. A grand hiking expedition we went on was cut short on account of my grate frend Dodo having lost one big toe in a cycling mishap in her youth (cut off between chain and chainring while reversing since you ask) and was unable to continue after a couple of days walking due to ankle problems caused by the missing item.

[phantasmagoriana]

Most shoes have stupidly narrow toe boxes that bear no resemblance to actual feet (not just the width - it's the shape. Humans don't have pointy feet, so why wear pointy shoes?). I switched to barefoot/minimalist shoes a couple of years ago, and no longer have to deal with such nonsense.

[ian]

They are normal shoes, I'm not going for some Cuban-heeled winklepickers or cross-dressing in my wife's heels. I'm sure they'll loosen up after a couple of wears. I am boring and have been wearing – on and off – the same variety of shoes since I was about 14 and they've never interfered with my little toes until now. Generally, I have low-maintenance feet, even new hiking boots usually just fit and I can walk twenty miles with nary a blister, while my wife – on the other hand foot – has to 'break them in' and still seems to have acquired a pile of hiking boots she, for various reasons, doesn't get on with. Again, I just buy the same variety every five or so years, job done.

[Kim]

Most shoes have stupidly narrow toe boxes that bear no resemblance to actual feet (not just the width - it's the shape. Humans don't have pointy feet, so why wear pointy shoes?).

I've never actually seen a mistake agent, car hire weasel, insurance broker or similar with their socks off, but I assume their penchant for unusually pointy footwear is a form of fashionable masochism rather than a freak mutation that's spread amongst the financial services community.  Either way, we might as well blame them for shoes that don't fit; collectively they're usually the reason we can't have nice things.

[Kim]

A grand hiking expedition we went on was cut short on account of my grate frend Dodo having lost one big toe in a cycling mishap in her youth (cut off between chain and chainring while reversing since you ask) and was unable to continue after a couple of days walking due to ankle problems caused by the missing item.

Thanks, I'm now terrified of bicycles.

[Mr Larrington]

Velux blinds.

They are just shit aren't they. Plastic parts and thin string that saws through them destroying itself in the process, and cost an extortionate amount to replace.  I've just mended mine for the 5th time in 11 years.

Shit.

Yes.  Yes, they are.  The one in the Grand Bedchamber is held closed with gaffer tape, while the one in my bedroom at Fort Larrington won't open at all.

Shit.

Hydraulic boot expanders are A Thing...

https://www.skiequipmentuk.co.uk/ski_boot_spares_repairs_and_fitting3/

I've got a hat-stretcher, but it’s strictly mechanical.

[andrewc]

I'm Dotwatching ,  not a cycling event but an Amazon delivery which was missed yesterday.... 

[Pickled Onion]

A grand hiking expedition we went on was cut short on account of my grate frend Dodo having lost one big toe in a cycling mishap in her youth (cut off between chain and chainring while reversing since you ask) and was unable to continue after a couple of days walking due to ankle problems caused by the missing item.

Thanks, I'm now terrified of bicycles.

Don't worry, it was a trike. Reversing a two-wheeled bike while barefoot and feet not on pedals is a feat of agility not many of us could aspire to.

[ian]

Stupid aqua aerobics woman who just has to be in place first. Your session starts at 1915. It's 1912. We are still swimming lengths. I appreciate the lifeguard has started to wind in the lane rope so you can start promptly. That doesn't mean barge in and push the rope so it blocks the lane and people like me, sprinting their last few lengths, swim right into it, just because you must, must, must be in the same place each week.

This is why I'm training a shark and showing it your picture. In the meantime, I'm terribly sorry that I splashed a gallon of water into your witless face. Accidents will happen.

[andyoxon]

Trip to the local recycling centre.  Tried to charge me for a hutch and wooden framed run, on the basis that it was "outdoor wood" - this despite the fact they are not listed under chargeable items, and technically hutches are often in garages etc...   I said 'nah mate', they said 'you may be sent back to me...'.  I wasn't.

[Beardy]

I’ve not worked myself up to a full rant yet, but it is simmering.

Yesterday I ordered , at not inconsiderable cost, an Ego electric multi tool set. The webby science of the retailer offered me next working day delivery for an extra fiver if ordered before 3pm, of which I availed myself. The time was 12:50.

The next email I received was at 9am this morning to say the item had been dispatched. To no one’s surprise at all, I have note received any further communication or a delivery.

This means that a weekend of gardening is not going to happen now.

I’ll be contacting them on Monday to request my fiver back, and if they get difficult, I’ll be returning the item under the distance selling rules for a full refund.

ETA

No refund for me and a weekend in the garden awaits. I’m still waiting for an update on when I can expect the delivery though. 10/10 for delivering as specified. 0/10 for communicating with the customer.

[Polar Bear]

Velux blinds.

They are just shit aren't they. Plastic parts and thin string that saws through them destroying itself in the process, and cost an extortionate amount to replace.  I've just mended mine for the 5th time in 11 years.

Shit.

They are indeed.  The cord used is clearly sub-standard and not fit for purpose.

We have blinds from another company which we have inside curtains on windows and they too have an alarming tendency to suffer snapped cord.

Why do these businesses always cut corners?

[mrcharly-YHT]

Father's day. A brunch out (new place in town opening on a Sun), then out to Tiumpan Head, the UK's premier land site for whale watching. Well, it wasn't on Sun afternoon. Saw nothing but a solitary porpoise.

Head home, only to read that a friend had seen several Minke and scores of dolphins on the same morning, from the same place. Bloody cetacians.

So I head up to the peat bank, to try to get as much in as possible before the week of wet weather hits. Take my wheelbarrow, so I could make multiple trips (don't normally bother, just yomp sacks on my back).
One trip - fine, much faster with barrow. Car loaded, drive home, offload, head back.
No barrow. Left it just down the track, I've been gone less than 20min, probably 15.
Some fucker has nicked it.

This, in an area where most people don't lock houses, sheds, etc. And on a sunday.

It is really upsetting and shocking. I can easily afford to replace the barrow, that's not the point. Whoever took it would have known that.

[Cudzoziemiec]

One of the Wee Frees (or is it the Wee Wee Frees?) was determined to stop you working on a Sabbath (or should that be Lord's Day?)!

[Mr Larrington]

Father's day. A brunch out (new place in town opening on a Sun), then out to Tiumpan Head, the UK's premier land site for whale watching. Well, it wasn't on Sun afternoon. Saw nothing but a solitary porpoise.

Head home, only to read that a friend had seen several Minke and scores of dolphins on the same morning, from the same place. Bloody cetacians.

[cetacean needed]