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

[tiermat]

Get all GDPR on their ass.

Indeed, articles 17 and 21 are your friends in this case.

Although more than a little difficult to enforce given their Leftpondian location.

From experience leftpondian companies run a mile, apologising as they go, when GDPR is quoted at them. Why? Well it hasn't been tested in court yet and nobody wants to be the company to do so.

[rafletcher]

I've come across a couple of Leftpondian websites that now have a placeholder saying that as a result of GDPR they no longer serve Europe, and redirecting to a European based website.

[Mr Larrington]

I've come across a couple of Leftpondian websites that now have a placeholder saying that as a result of GDPR they no longer serve Europe, and redirecting to a European based website.

I've come across a couple of Leftpondian websites that now have a placeholder saying that as a result of GDPR they no longer serve Europe, and not redirecting anywhere.  Which is annoying.

[ian]

My wife's really, but our doctors used to have a genuinely useful system where you could turn up between 8.30-10.30am and see whatever GPs had the open surgery slot. Otherwise you could book an appointment. Worked perfectly.

Alas, it was 'too popular' and they've switched to the utterly impractical call-at-8.30am-system where you spend fifteen minutes on hold hoping to get an appointment that day, otherwise the next actual bookable appointment is in a 'few weeks.'

I presume someone, somewhere must be joining up the dots and figuring out that restricting access to GPs actually pushes people to A&E, and generally results in poorer outcomes because people who should be seeing a doctor just don't bother.

[Kim]

For tedious mid-life-MOT reasons, they recently wanted to measure (amongst other things) my cortisol level.  This requires pre-9am vampirism, necessitating pre-booking the first appointment of the day.  Attempting to achieve this didn't do the nurse's cortisol levels any favours...

To be fair, our lot are usually pretty good at getting you an appointment within a week or so.  Or same day if you're properly ill, though I think I've only had to do that once (in order to be dismissed by a judgemental GP I don't usually see that time my hand swelled up and went purple).

[ian]

Well, apparently they will begrudgingly 'try to find something' if it's urgent. Like all GP surgeries in the UK, there's a belief that having borderline unpleasant reception staff is an ideal conduit to successful primary care.

It seems mad to expect that people should linger on the phone at an impractical time (especially if they have jobs to go to) in the hope of getting an appointment (and quite possibly failing) or accept an appointment at some distant time in future. The old system worked and it was popular because it was offered a practical route to seeing a doctor.

I get a couple of free private appointments via my health insurance, which I've never used, but suspect it'll be the easiest option from now on. Possibly that's the successful outcome they were looking for.

[Mr Larrington]

Them: Please sign this tedious 22-page document and initial every page.
Me: (Applies SCIENCE, saves trees, befriends beavers, by pasting initials and signature into appropriate spaces)
Them: Sorry, not good enough.  Please print, initial, sign, scan and return as enormous e-mail attachment!

* Mr Larrington gives thanks that his scanner has an auto-feed thing, but was still tempted not to join the pages into a single PDF, or to compress the said PDF in a format that Windows can't read.

[Moleman76]

Some USA Republican fund raising organisation has managed to acquire one of my email addresses and is this spamming me with requests for money. 

Send them a minor pittance of a donation, and then report them to the USA Federal Elections Authorities as guilty of accepting foreign donations.  Kind of like the NRA and the rubles.

[T42]

Thus breaching US electoral law and laying yourself open to untold years in clink.

[essexian]

Two for the price of one today…

Jamise the cat…. I know you are getting on a bit and, well frankly I am not sure you are all there anymore (if you ever were) but please do not be pooing in my office.

Yes, I know was raining and windy outside yesterday evening when I let you shelter in my office after work, but the door was ajar and I know you know how to opened it fully to get out, so why drop a load of extra smelly poo on my turbo mat? It took ages to clean up and now my office smells a mix between Jeyes Fluid and cat droppings. Not nice.


Secondly….right need to put on a corny local radio advert theme tune here….

“Hi, retired and nothing to do all day…. Want to get out and irritate people….. fancy a bit on the side….well why not come “swimming” at Stafford leisure centre between 7.30 and 9am any week day.

We can guarantee that you will pull if you want to: there is a lot of hot totty available without needing to bother with those computer app thingies. Simply pull on your tightest slug smugglers/ lowest cut swimming costume and pull to your heart's content.”

“Ability to swim not required. Your hair will not get wet unless you allow it to do so.”

I don’t know about other swimming pools early in the morning but my local one is full of two types of people: those doing lane swims against targets set by coaches and the over 65’s so come along to chat including trying to “pull/get pulled” by others of their age. This morning there were 20 such persons in the pool just socialising/ trying to get a date.  Okay, if you want to do so great, but do it somewhere else! To quote my late Mum...."it's like a knocking shop in there!"

God, I am a miserable person!

[Mrs Pingu]

Essexian, Jeyes fluid is toxic to cats!
I just use a solution of biological washing powder for accidents (get those enzymes working on the smelly stuff), though you can get special vet stuff most places just recommend the bio laundry option.

[mrcharly-YHT]

Essexian, Jeyes fluid is toxic to cats!
I just use a solution of biological washing powder for accidents (get those enzymes working on the smelly stuff), though you can get special vet stuff most places just recommend the bio laundry option.

The cat-stink-remover spray actually works.

I've had occasion to use it 

[Paul]

Essexian: take Jamise to the pool! 2 for 1!

[Cudzoziemiec]

Essexian, Jeyes fluid is toxic to cats!

Pretty sure it's toxic to humans too.

[Mrs Pingu]

Essexian, Jeyes fluid is toxic to cats!
I just use a solution of biological washing powder for accidents (get those enzymes working on the smelly stuff), though you can get special vet stuff most places just recommend the bio laundry option.

The cat-stink-remover spray actually works.

I've had occasion to use it 

What do you use? I bought something but couldn't stand the smell.
Getting increasing fed up with all the local toms pissing on our front door 
Our 2 are similarly unimpressed.

[mrcharly-YHT]

Landlords have some omega pet stuff that is a bit perfumed. We have something else in York that isn't so scented.

[ian]

Darn it, my ESTA expired. I hate to think what they've added to the lengthening form over the past two years. Probably my grandmother's blood type and a list of theatre musicals I've attended in the past ten years.

[Jasmine]

Darn it, my ESTA expired. I hate to think what they've added to the lengthening form over the past two years. Probably my grandmother's blood type and a list of theatre musicals I've attended in the past ten years.

Several of the questions are quite stupid, given that an ESTA lasts 2 years.  "Have you been on a farm?" Well, at some point in the next 2 years, probably.  Today, no.  "Where are you staying?"  This visit, xxxx. Next time, somewhere else!

[ian]

Ah, I think that's round 2, the CBP form (now also usually negotiated by prodding the jam-filled Babbage engine in the immigration area, after joining the wrong queue after being shouted out by an angry small lady who likes saying SIR! in a way that suggests she's not exactly putting a lot of effort into being polite. Sir, why are you standing in that line, SIR! Because, fifteen entire minutes ago, you told me to join it.

[Beardy]

The Traders on the Isle of Skye seem to have a-poly embraced 21st century technology with many places displaying their wares and advertising their services availability on the intertubes. However, few of them seem to have grasped the concept of keeping this information up to date. The two eateries (one a bistro / restaurant type thing and one pub) that we tried for Sunday lunch yesterday were not in fact cooking Sunday lunch as proclaimed on their websites. And today, a 1 ½ hour trip to a specialist jewellers was no where near open in spite of them claiming to be open in the spring.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Could be that spring begins from Easter?

[Kim]

Power cut about an hour ago rebooted the bread machine partway through its program.  It did not recover gracefully.

[ian]

My ancient and not terribly sophisticated breadmaker has a sense of commitment you can't argue with. Once you press go, that's it. It will run the programme. Not attempt to select the programme you actually wanted or unplugment will deviate it from its course. It quite possibly runs an early (or later) version of MayBot OS.

This commitment isn't helped by the fact that the setting labels have rubbed off, so I have to rely on the fact that I remember that dough is three-settings clockwise. Oh, and unlike the commitment of the machine itself, the setting LEDs are rather vague.

[Basil]

My ancient and not terribly sophisticated breadmaker has a sense of commitment you can't argue with. Once you press go, that's it. It will run the programme. Not attempt to select the programme you actually wanted or unplugment will deviate it from its course. It quite possibly runs an early (or later) version of MayBot OS.

This commitment isn't helped by the fact that the setting labels have rubbed off, so I have to rely on the fact that I remember that dough is three-settings clockwise. Oh, and unlike the commitment of the machine itself, the setting LEDs are rather vague.

Bake means bake!

[Cudzoziemiec]

My ancient and not terribly sophisticated breadmaker has a sense of commitment you can't argue with. Once you press go, that's it. It will run the programme. Not attempt to select the programme you actually wanted or unplugment will deviate it from its course. It quite possibly runs an early (or later) version of MayBot OS.

This commitment isn't helped by the fact that the setting labels have rubbed off, so I have to rely on the fact that I remember that dough is three-settings clockwise. Oh, and unlike the commitment of the machine itself, the setting LEDs are rather vague.

Bake means bake!

There's no off in bake!