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

[Mr Larrington]

"I suppose I had better read the 'important message' that smile have justve-mailed me about", I thought.  "But soft!  What is this 'username' they seek?  That wasn't A Thing the last time I logged in^*!"

Helpfully, they provide a facility whereby you can prod a button and they will e-mail you to tell you your username.  Unhelpfully, it doesn't work.  I suppose I shall have to telephone them.  Bah!

* which, now I come to think of it, was probably in 2008.

[SoreTween]

Unless I’ve misunderstood, then searching for pelican will take you to traffic signals. If it’s got a ‘lollypop’ Then it’s a zebra crossing isn’t it?

I'll be right back, I just need to pop over to the div thread...

[Kim]

No need to bet, pushing 'customers' to the interwebs is a design feature of all call centre call handling strategies.

Which is daft, as surely anyone who isn't blind or dyslexic would rather sort their problem by talking to $BigCo's computer directly, rather than wait 20 minutes to talk to some inaudible callcentre drone who isn't authorised to actually solve problems.

[Beardy]

 

No need to bet, pushing 'customers' to the interwebs is a design feature of all call centre call handling strategies.

Which is daft, as surely anyone who isn't blind or dyslexic would rather sort their problem by talking to $BigCo's computer directly, rather than wait 20 minutes to talk to some inaudible callcentre drone who isn't authorised to actually solve problems.

Well, you would have though so, but the ‘metrics’ the bean counters were using to justify, nay, drive this strategy suggested otherwise. To be fair, I think in the beginning of online offerings, more people did ring before they checked the interwebs, but the bean counters have got so used to this being a wicked wheeze for saving money, the seem to,overlook the changing topology of their customer base. I’m glad I’m out of it.

[Tim Hall]

Having mislaid my RED Spokey spoke key, I did the wheel build mentioned elsewhere with one of those Evans multi size keys. It did a good ish job, but the Spokey ones grip the nippul on three sides, giving less chance of rounding.

Thusly I went to town this lunchtime. First bike shop didn't have one, second one, very much a "proper" LBS, had a similar thing, made by Torque. Yes, it grips on three sides, yes it's RED. No, the manufacturers don't use a common colour code, so it's too big. Arse.

(The nice man in the shop did warn me I should measure the nippul first, but I ignored him)

Took it back and swapped it for a Black one, which is the same size as a Spokey RED one. The man in the LBS said he'd given up arguing with customers but if I'd given him the chance he would have told me which one go get. He didn't have to be quite so smug about it. I think I like him though.

[Beardy]

Bloody four legged killing bot. She just brought in a Blue Tit, but the damn thing isn’t dead and she’s taken into one of her hidyholes. 

[Canardly]

Why do Cross Country consider it acceptable to not run any trains to Stanstead before 10:20am and then send a 3 coach train to pick up a huge number of people, many having significant luggage? Not as if this a rare occurence.

[Torslanda]

Why is it that $train op co's see fit to run two coach trains at peak periods? Everyone crammed in like cattle, yet off-peak trains can be 4 or even 6 coaches and virtually empty.

No one has ever managed a reasonable sounding explanation AFAIK...

[ian]

To be fair, trains have to move around too – ToCs can't just magic additional carriages to another part of their network (they have to get there, around the usual congestion and problems). So when something goes awry, carriages are in the wrong place. Plus a lot of long trains off-peak are effectively putting capacity in place for the peak periods. Or simply it's not worth detaching carriages and finding somewhere to put them (which might not be available, those railways sidings are probably a housing estate these days).

[ElyDave]

They all seem to be at Ely, take a look at a satellite photo just to the east of the station - massive sidings, always full

[Kim]

Why do Cross Country consider it acceptable to not run any trains to Stanstead before 10:20am and then send a 3 coach train to pick up a huge number of people, many having significant luggage? Not as if this a rare occurence.

Rower40 OTP once explained why the Mordor-Stansted train is so utterly crap.  Something to do with platform length at one end, and some signalling limit on how frequently trains could run in the boring middle section of the route IIRC

[yorkie]

Cross Country (XC) are only allowed to use platform 2 at Stansted Airport, which is only 106m long. Platforms 1 & 3 are 359 and 291m respectively, but are needed for the Stansted Express, which regularly loads to 12 x 20m vehicles. The only trains XC possess which are (a) available and (b) short enough are the 2 and 3 car class 170 DMUs.

Regarding the penchant for Northern to run 2 car trains in the peak and 4 car trains off peak, at the moment they are required (in the franchise agreement) to run extra trains during the peak, but until the new/second-hand fleet are available, they don't have any extra trains (also in the franchise agreement!) to run those extra services. Guess where the extra trains have to come from...
(This used to happen all the time on the Leeds - Harrogate - York line where 2 x 2 car trains off peak were split to provide extra trains for the peak. Then they got some 3 car trains from Scotland - longer vehicles and 2 fewer cabs and vestibules to worry about = roughly the same number of seats. To quote a guard "At least they won't be able to split *these* buggers in the peak!!")

[Kim]

Also if you change from running one train with n seats per hour to running two trains of n/2, they'll automatically become more crowded due to the increased demand for a more conveniently-timed service.

[Ham]

Frigging vulture frigging companies frigging phoning me about a frigging accident that wasn't my frigging fault just frigging sod off. 

Why on earth am I getting an uptick in the number of these calls?

Ah. Miss Ham has had an accident in <car still registered to me> that wasn't her fault 

Could it possibly be fact based rather than random?

[yorkie]

Also if you change from running one train with n seats per hour to running two trains of n/2, they'll automatically become more crowded due to the increased demand for a more conveniently-timed service.

Correct! I was living in Mordor during the early days of BeardieRail^TM when "Operation Princess" went into (not quite) full swing, replacing 1 train per hour of 7 coaches with 2 per hour of 4 or 5 coaches! What a <expletive deleted> disaster! Thankfully I was only travelling back to York once or twice a month, but even that was once or twice too many sometimes!

[rafletcher]

I dislike dark evenings 

[orienteer]

Frigging vulture frigging companies frigging phoning me about a frigging accident that wasn't my frigging fault just frigging sod off. 

Why on earth am I getting an uptick in the number of these calls?

Ah. Miss Ham has had an accident in <car still registered to me> that wasn't her fault 

Could it possibly be fact based rather than random?

Think these are random, I get them regularly despite no accidents, and they never know my name. I just invite them to take their leave immediately in no uncertain terms.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Also, as XC don't operate any stations, it's harder for them to get platforms extended to take longer trains. Other operators tend to manage the stations which their trains call at, so it's easier for them to do this.

[Kim]

Surely that's the stuff of Network Rail?

[Beardy]

Ah, an opening for one of my soap boxes.

Utilities cannot be effectively run by private enterprise, especially so when the government decides to impose ‘competion’ via some screwed up regulator system.

[Basil]

It's a beautiful day here.  So did I go for a little ride this morning?
No.  I'm on the phone trying to track down another chimney sweep. Any chimney sweep who will actually turn up and, you know, sweep chimneys.

Getting any tradesman around here to actually do anything is like living with grumpy teenagers.

[Kim]

Maybe you could send a grumpy teenager up the chimney instead, kill two birds with one stone?

[Basil]

Unfortunately, interfering busybody do-gooders frown on that sort of thing these days.

[Beardy]

Unfortunately, interfering busybody do-gooders frown on that sort of thing these days.

actually, if you call them apprentices you can pretty much do what you like with them.  It’s training isn’t it!

[hellymedic]

Welsh teenagers are FAR too fat for chimneys!