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

[robgul]

Went into the West End this morning as a shirt vendor had invited me to come in and 'try some for size' only to find that when I got there 'Oh, we don't have any of those in stock' 
To make a bad day better, instead of getting the Tube/Overground home I got off the Tube at Battersea Power Station, boarded a Thames Clipper and headed for home via Greenwich Pier.
Best part about the trip being that once the boat is east of the HQ of the River Police at Wapping, they're allowed to apply full throttle which turns the boat ride into something of a funfair ride 

Back in the 70s there was a hydrofoil boat that plied the Thames as a tourist ride - excellent, although the spray reduced visibility.  The Clipper boats although fast do seem very sedate.

[Jurek]

Just found some YouTube footage of that operating in the 80s.
Double decker P&O ferries jobbie, filmed going past Docklands when the docks still had ships in them  and The Long Good Friday had yet to be filmed.

[robgul]

Just found some YouTube footage of that operating in the 80s.
Double decker P&O ferries jobbie, filmed going past Docklands when the docks still had ships in them  and The Long Good Friday had yet to be filmed.

Working back in my mind this must have been the hydrofoil I went on in 1974 or 5 - https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=302645453833150  (film looks like it's the "launch" of the service - I wasn't there!)   
IIRC on the day I rode the hydrofoil I had gone to the Isle of Dogs to look at some houses being built on Manchester Road . . .  almost bought one but was persuaded not to by my father - how wrong you can be with the way that the area, and its values, have developed.

[Mr Larrington]

Nary a bridge nor water tower worthy of my attention today.  'tis the End Times, I tells 'ee!

[Tim Hall]

Dear purveyors of clothing that goes around legs.  The type of clothes that do not extend all the way down the leg to the foot is a "PAIR of shorts". It is NOT a "short". A short is something I might drink.  And while we're on the subject, I don't want to "Shop" these "shorts". I might want to buy them, or shop for them. And I won't pre order them either.

Blimey, I'm grumpy. Where's my dinner?

[Beardy]

I’ve been tasked with emptying the dishwasher. I hate emptying the dishwasher.

[Mr Larrington]

O hai the BBC

On your weather app, plz to distinguish between Portland ME and Portland OR.

Kthxbai

[TheLurker]

Just be grateful you didn't want the weather for Springfield.

[Pickled Onion]

I’m touring in Ireland. Accommodation seems to be hard to book on the day so last night I planned a route and booked a b&b in a nice town.

At 01:50 this morning she cancelled cos of double booking.

That’s not my grumble. These things happen.

So I manage to find a place 15 km out of town. That’s ok I’ll have a couple of Guinnesses in town then ride out. It’s on the route. The description says “breakfast available for additional charge”. Several reviews say the breakfast is wonderful.

On arrival I ask and the host says “we’ve never done breakfast” and told me to cycle back and get something from the Spar. Not only is that a blatant LIE but I really don’t want to add a 30 km trip to a long day of headwinds.

Check on Google and the first place for food on route is 45 km. FFS.

I’m tempted to sneak out and cut the &B off the big shiny sign.

[Mr Larrington]

Just be grateful you didn't want the weather for Springfield.

40 C on the 25th of August for the one in Illinois.  I melted.

[Cudzoziemiec]

On Sunday afternoon I was stung by a wasp. On Monday evening I stubbed my toes on a bed leg. Yesterday nothing, just bruised toe from Monday. What does today hold?

[Beardy]

 Monday;
Cooker repair only partially successful.
Tuesday;
mixer repair unsuccessful.
Wednesday;
Got up to find some div ( ) had left the fridge open on his way to bed last night and now it seems to have died. On the hottest week of the year. The day after a weeklyy supermarket delivery with extras for the guests* we’re expecting tomorrow. Guess who’s going to Curry’s this afternoon.

*who have chosen a campsite with access only off the Tour of Britain route which is due tomorrow!

[Kim]

There's a lot to be said for a fridge that moos at you when you leave the door open.  Especially when the whole thing is tilted such that the door usefully self-closes, except when allowed to do so with excess velocity, whereupon it bounces open leaving a gap that's just right for letting the air circulate while looking closed from a distance.  DAHIKT.

Unfortunately, I've yet to come up with an algorithm to time the moos so that it doesn't pester you while you're rummaging about in the fridge, without also waiting until you get to the top of the stairs before announcing its non-closedness.  There's an unfriendly BLUE LED too, but barakta routinely ignores blinkenlights, especially when distracted by  a) caffeine  b) stairs

[Jurek]

My GPs surgery had a fantastic system where you turn up before 08:00 and are pretty much guaranteed to see a doctor in the next three hours.
So good it was, that at the end of August they decided to do away with it and replace it with an online booking system.
All of which means that this morning, having been turned away at the surgery, I was able to book myself an appointment for next Monday afternoon.
The online booking system is only operational between the hours of 08:00 and 16:00.
WTF is that all about?

[Pingu]

Helichopter buzzing about for ages at audax o'clock this morning. Only a grumble as I presume it was on some legit mission and not a bunch of boy racers in a chavved up Sikorsky.

[Mr Larrington]

One or more of the wretched things buzzing back and forth much of yesterday here.  Seems they ferry Columbia River pilots to and from ships wishing to pass the sandbanks at the mouth of the river without joining the Graveyard of the Pacific.

[Basil]

Bloody hearing aids.  Left fattery is completely blat. There may have been a warning, but in this crowded noisy place, I missed it. Right fattery is warning of imminent failure.
A little earlier warning would have been good. I don't carry batteries.

[ian]

My GPs surgery had a fantastic system where you turn up before 08:00 and are pretty much guaranteed to see a doctor in the next three hours.
So good it was, that at the end of August they decided to do away with it and replace it with an online booking system.
All of which means that this morning, having been turned away at the surgery, I was able to book myself an appointment for next Monday afternoon.
The online booking system is only operational between the hours of 08:00 and 16:00.
WTF is that all about?

My surgery used to do a turn-up and get seen open surgery every morning – in the few occasions I needed the tender attentions of the sawdoc, getting there before 10am earned me a 30-minute wait and an appointment. This, they decided was 'too popular' so they cancelled in favour of the 8.30am telephone scrum. But you don't have to phone, you can use the online form.

Except, that if you don't fill it in at 8.30am they turn it off the moment the appointments for the day have gone, even if you want to book a non-urgent appointment for a day in the future.

[Kim]

I don't carry batteries.

Well there's your problem.  Can't you dispatch the dog to go and fetch some or something?

We have hearing aid batteries liberally distributed throughout our lives (including a few of the more common Wrong Size, in case of visiting deafies) with flagrant disregard for expiry date, in much the same way as Ventolin inhalers.  It's the only way to be sure.

[barakta]

Bloody hearing aids.  Left fattery is completely blat. There may have been a warning, but in this crowded noisy place, I missed it. Right fattery is warning of imminent failure.
A little earlier warning would have been good. I don't carry batteries.

My hearing aids give me a whole 30 sodding seconds notice of batt flatteries... Great fun when in a video call for work. Have to excuse myself, change the flipping thing (with packet that lives on desk for a reason), reboot hearing aid, wait for it to chime a bit, then re-get it into the correct receiver mode to work with computer sound.

Less said about the on/off being battery door open, as in WIDE open so battery falls out, otherwise it still hearing aids and squeals, the better. Fucking Oticon. The engineer who designed that is getting a smack if I ever meet him (and it's totally a him).

[Mr Larrington]

I don't carry batteries.

Well there's your problem.  Can't you dispatch the dog to go and fetch some or something?

I shudder to think what Basil's dog might return with if sent out to buy batteries.  An aircraft carrier, probably, or a Formula One team.

[Basil]

She came back with Aston Villa.
Did my first team talk with them today.
"Score more goals than they do."
Why has no one thought of that before?
I'm going to be a great manager.  👍

[Beardy]

Talking of hearing aids, in response to threats to my life, I’ve started wearing mine all the time*. This change of habit and the current hot weather has resulted in bilateral otitis externa which has rendered me (temporarily hopefully) totally deaf. And with no little discomfort.

*it’s amazing just how much I can actually hear when I’m fully plugged in. Who’s have think it.

[rogerzilla]

Rightmove REALLY needs a filter to avoid properties near busy roads.  You can rule out 2/3 of the houses of the type we're looking for because the cats wouldn't be safe.  Plus popping exhausts, etc.

[Mr Larrington]

The Brown Drink machine here is b0rked.  No Brown Drink for breakfast.  Aaaarrrgh!

(Stomps back to room to make Proper Tea instead)