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

[Kim]

On that grounds alone you can tell them they have to replace the door which is wide enough for wheelchair access even if that means them using different sized parts and replacing the ones they have just installed.

This also sounds like a good time to pull the "a pedal cycle adapted for a disabled user is a 'class 1 invalid carriage'" (ie. equivalent to a manual wheelchair) thing.  You've adapted your trike to carry crutches, right?

[ElyDave]

Failure to consider your needs as a disabled person is unlawful in the extreme. They have a duty to make reasonable adjustments and as a services provider that duty is ANTICIPATORY and as you exist and already have a wheelchair they should have been asking about your likely access needs and meeting them.

On that grounds alone you can tell them they have to replace the door which is wide enough for wheelchair access even if that means them using different sized parts and replacing the ones they have just installed.

Stupid fuckers. How do organisations not think of this shit?

Standardisation innit.  Lowest common cost denominator.  Order 10,000 of X and it's cheaper, don't worry about whether its right or not.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Bulk discount, I was going to say, but Ely Dave said it fuller.

[cycleman]

thanks kim and barakta  , i will push them on this

[Cudzoziemiec]

Wishing you good luck with that.

[T42]

On that grounds alone you can tell them they have to replace the door which is wide enough for wheelchair access even if that means them using different sized parts and replacing the ones they have just installed.

This also sounds like a good time to pull the "a pedal cycle adapted for a disabled user is a 'class 1 invalid carriage'" (ie. equivalent to a manual wheelchair) thing.  You've adapted your trike to carry crutches, right?

Would DIY adaptations count?  I would have thought that only manufacturer's mods would be eligible.

[Kim]

On that grounds alone you can tell them they have to replace the door which is wide enough for wheelchair access even if that means them using different sized parts and replacing the ones they have just installed.

This also sounds like a good time to pull the "a pedal cycle adapted for a disabled user is a 'class 1 invalid carriage'" (ie. equivalent to a manual wheelchair) thing.  You've adapted your trike to carry crutches, right?

Would DIY adaptations count?  I would have thought that only manufacturer's mods would be eligible.

The relevant legislation dates from the 70s and doesn't specify.  It was written in order to distinguish manual wheelchairs from powered wheelchairs and mobility scooters, but covers any form of transport designed or adapted for use by a disabled person which isn't mechanically propelled.  The requirement for disability-specificness means that a standard pedal cycle/kick-scooter/skateboard/whatever doesn't count, even when used as a mobility aid; you need that crutch holder/support pedal/adapted brake lever/whatever in order to legally ride your trike on the pavement.  CTC are campaigning to change this, so that unmodified cycles can be recognised as mobility aids.


(The now defunct VAT exemption on disability-related equipment that could be applied to adapted cycles applied at point of sale, so mods would have to be done by the manufacturer or retailer.)

[andrewc]

A valve on my amp has died, so I'm having to listen to music on the Mac, until I can get around to buying & fitting a spare :-(

[Tim Hall]

A valve on my amp has died, so I'm having to listen to music on the Mac, until I can get around to buying & fitting a spare :-(

Presta, Schrader or Woods?

[andrewc]

I'll set 'em up.... 


EL34, and a bit of a nuisance to replace.

[Kim]

Ah yes, a JFET with a pilot light.  Retro.

[Cudzoziemiec]

I was really looking forward to Mick's 70 miler to Wells on Sunday, but my body had other plans. After  x2 on Saturday night, I could hardly walk 7 steps let alone ride 70 miles, and the "pie and mash" pub had lost its attraction. Spent Sunday mostly asleep, alternately shivering uncontrollably and sweating profusely. Suspected source of bug: son's school.

[T42]

Ah yes, a JFET with a pilot light.  Retro.

Good old thermionics, I never could get used to them there positive holes.

On-line music shops carry them, they're a favourite in guitar amps.

https://www.thomann.de/fr/tad_jj_el34_roehre.htm

[Jurek]

Ah yes, a JFET with a pilot light.  Retro.

Good old thermionics, I never could get used to them there positive holes.

On-line music shops carry them, they're a favourite in guitar amps.

https://www.thomann.de/fr/tad_jj_el34_roehre.htm

Seeing that link reminded  me of something warm, soft and eminently likeable.
Not unlike the cuddles that I, as a small child, received from my Granny.
To the sound of the Light Programme issuing forth from a valve set somewhere in the background....

[T42]

Our accountant has taken 6 weeks to turn out our very modest company balance sheet. Our lawyers need it to finish closing the company: they're damnably slow and the Register of Commerce is damnably slow (7 weeks to process a declaration I put in last year), and I need the closure to be all sewn up before I can claim my full pension. The pensions authority dates payments from the beginning of the first quarter after they receive the correctly-completed demand, and the way things are going I'm going to miss the end-of-March deadline and not get anything until July, a loss of >2700 €.

Was too pissed off to go cycling today despite brilliant sunshine & almost no wind. And we're promised gales from tonight until Thursday.

[andrewc]

Ah yes, a JFET with a pilot light.  Retro.

Good old thermionics, I never could get used to them there positive holes.

On-line music shops carry them, they're a favourite in guitar amps.

https://www.thomann.de/fr/tad_jj_el34_roehre.htm

Seeing that link reminded  me of something warm, soft and eminently likeable.
Not unlike the cuddles that I, as a small child, received from my Granny.
To the sound of the Light Programme issuing forth from a valve set somewhere in the background....

Yes,  JJ's are modern production valves built on the old Tesla line and are fairly cheap.  Old production valves are fancied to sound better & be more reliable, hence have a price premium. New Old Stock Mullards or Siemens for example will cost serious money.   If you've got a stash of those in your shed you could retire early.

[Torslanda]

In that case I pray to $deity we haven't skipped the ones from my parents' loft...

[Bledlow]

Seeing that link reminded  me of something warm, soft and eminently likeable.
Not unlike the cuddles that I, as a small child, received from my Granny.
To the sound of the Light Programme issuing forth from a valve set somewhere in the background....

Oooh! My grandparents had a valve radio with "Home", "Light" & "Third" marked on the tuning dial!

[hellymedic]

BT Call Protect: you have twice blocked calls from my father, who is abroad at present, even though I have not blocked foreign calls.

I had blocked 'unrecognised' calls, which I have now enabled.

It seems that your technology takes a while to recognise these numbers.

I DO NOT want to 'upgrade' to 1571 (so I could put my parents on a 'VIP' list) for £2.25 per month as:

It will cost me more.
It will cost my callers more.
It will annoy my callers.

[T42]

I cancelled our company insurance in December.

Today a new schedule of instalments arrives, 60€/month from April 2017 to March 2018.

Insurance C°: Oh, they were all printed at the beginning of December, throw it away.

So: setting aside alarm & despondency occasioned by arrival of said, the waste of two sheets of paper with 4-colour printing plus an envelope + carriage of same shows pretty miserable environmental nous on the part of the (deep breath) Mutuelle Assurance des Commerçants et Industriels de France et des Cadres et Salariés de l'Industrie et du Commerce. IOW, buncha twats.

[andrewc]

A valve on my amp has died, so I'm having to listen to music on the Mac, until I can get around to buying & fitting a spare :-(

Ah, that's better..... Mr Cohen sounding like he's in my living room.


Only problem is, Google searches for "Svetlana, best price" seem to have resulted in some extremely odd emails......

[T42]

Very pretty.

Me mum-in-law (not to call her the Inlaw Maw) would have had a doily and a vase of flowers on the middle bit as soon as you left the room.

[PeteB99]

Screwfix - you do not need my name and address to sell me a £3.99 set of bolt extractors so don't give me a dirty look when I decline to provide it.

[Eccentrica Gallumbits]

Royal Mail, I have the greatest respect for you, and my own local postie is great. But "the final collection from this postbox will be no earlier than 0900" is not helpful. If I post something after 0900, I have no idea whether I've missed the day's collection or I'm in time for it.

[hellymedic]

Royal Mail, I have the greatest respect for you, and my own local postie is great. But "the final collection from this postbox will be no earlier than 0900" is not helpful. If I post something after 0900, I have no idea whether I've missed the day's collection or I'm in time for it.

I think there's a trend for very early 'final collections' everywhere. We have a box with an afternoon final collection about half a mile away and partner often posts things therein. You might have one too...