You'd be very lucky to get a truck down our estate roads since it became illegal to park on pavements. The firebrigade is worried about access and the bin lorries sometimes struggle - I've noticed they now sometimes send smaller bin lorries.
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What's made you grumpy today?
The Panda Nut
Nutty about Pandas Infected by Panda virus and OPD
....ly thick by the sound of it?
We got quite a surprise yesterday from our SIL. He called and said one of his best friends had been arrested and charged with sexual assault. 90 f**king counts worth. With young boys. I won't say much else other than he's in his 80s and was always polite and friendly with us. SIL looked up to him, too.
Its been about 10 years since I last working directly in the NHS, having spent much of the last decade in private health care firms.
Yesterday I was reminded of the fun of the NHS when I changed some code in a spreadsheet to make it easier to use.....
well for some in my team you would think that I had murdered their first born or stomped on a kitten in front of them.
This is a form that they fill in one box of so I can keep tabs on what they've been doing, what I did have absolutely no impact on what they do.... but still, we were not far away from cries of "will someone think of the children, for the love of god"
If that their response to something extremely minor in a spread sheet then they are in for a shock when I do start making some actual substantive changes
Yesterday I was reminded of the fun of the NHS when I changed some code in a spreadsheet to make it easier to use.....
well for some in my team you would think that I had murdered their first born or stomped on a kitten in front of them.
This is a form that they fill in one box of so I can keep tabs on what they've been doing, what I did have absolutely no impact on what they do.... but still, we were not far away from cries of "will someone think of the children, for the love of god"
If that their response to something extremely minor in a spread sheet then they are in for a shock when I do start making some actual substantive changes
At 7:40pm, a text message from NRS Healthcare advising a technician visit tomorrow between 08:26-10:26.
For my partner, we have a hospital bed, an air mattress with pump, a commode, a bed table, and an alarm system with two smoke alarms. Supplied on behalf of the NHS by NRS. All this stuff needs an annual 'service', but this company are incapable of one visit to do it all. They even split the bed and mattress into two visits.
Normally, when they are planning a visit, they send a letter, which usually arrives the day on, or after the visit. First I know is the text message the night before, always well after office closes, so can't query it. It took 6 years to get them to mark the file for no visit before 10am. Carer arrives around 9am, for a 45minute visit to get her out of bed, toileted, washed, dressed, and sat with her breakfast. We cannot have a technician in the house before my partner is out of bed and dressed. Surely, they must encounter this with many of their clients.
We had a visit scheduled last week, for the smoke alarms, between 2-4pm. Tech never showed up, but called at 5:40 to apologise and say couldn't make it. Next day, got a call to reschedule, for tomorrow, and again I emphasised 10am earliest.
So why the text message tonight with the early times on it?
I shall be out around 7:30 tomorrow, returning about 2pm. Will have to phone them while drivign on way to my appointment. Not good.
For my partner, we have a hospital bed, an air mattress with pump, a commode, a bed table, and an alarm system with two smoke alarms. Supplied on behalf of the NHS by NRS. All this stuff needs an annual 'service', but this company are incapable of one visit to do it all. They even split the bed and mattress into two visits.
Normally, when they are planning a visit, they send a letter, which usually arrives the day on, or after the visit. First I know is the text message the night before, always well after office closes, so can't query it. It took 6 years to get them to mark the file for no visit before 10am. Carer arrives around 9am, for a 45minute visit to get her out of bed, toileted, washed, dressed, and sat with her breakfast. We cannot have a technician in the house before my partner is out of bed and dressed. Surely, they must encounter this with many of their clients.
We had a visit scheduled last week, for the smoke alarms, between 2-4pm. Tech never showed up, but called at 5:40 to apologise and say couldn't make it. Next day, got a call to reschedule, for tomorrow, and again I emphasised 10am earliest.
So why the text message tonight with the early times on it?
I shall be out around 7:30 tomorrow, returning about 2pm. Will have to phone them while drivign on way to my appointment. Not good.
This lack of customer consideration does seem to be common now a days. For example. The elderly lady across the road from us (what am I saying, "elderly" for? she's ages with me!) has been exitedly telling me for a couple of weeks now, that she's having a new boiler installed. I think the existing boiler is the one installed when our houses were built some 40 years ago so I'm sure she's going to notice a difference in running costs. The old system was a gravity system whereas the new one is a combi so a certain amount of replumbing is needed. Two days ago a posh, nearly new, van turned up very early in the morning - I was still in bed and disturbed by the slamming van doors - and a well dressed company logoed young man, complete with lovely new looking tool kit, is admitted to the house. Around lunchtime a much scruffier looking, unlettered van arrives, with two older men in well used overalls, and parks outside our house - Aha, it's the real workers! About half an hour goes by and the old boiler appears in the front garden. Must have been too much for them all as they then retire to their various vans for an extended lunch break. However about an hour later another very smart van arrives and offloads the new boiler. I'd have thought that would have been in the first van to arrive? Or maybe they didn't know what boiler would be best until the old one was removed? Not very much happened for a while until another van arrives - and blocks our driveway because there's nowhere else for it to park in our busy street - It's a company of "core cutters"? Two more men go into the house and come back out almost immediately to collect a "serious looking" hole cutting rig (must be to cut a new hole through the wall for the flue I'd guess?) To their credit they were only in the house for about an hour and then left. Now about 5 pm and the two older "workers" leave in their scruffy van and a short time later the youngster in his nice clean uniform and lovely new van departs also. Neighbour, as we were putting out our bins for next day, reports the new boiler is not yet working. Next day the two "workers" are back but only for about an hour and a half then go away. Later the clean young man returns and I'm scarifying the front grass so speak with him. Very nice chap who explains they're having trouble bleeding the system. He's there all day and leaves at around normal finishing time. I've not seen anyone since so assume it's all done? I wonder what sort of condition her hall and kitchen have been left in?
I suppose two days to do a boiler is not that unreasonable? but why so many people were needed, especially the specialist core cutting company, is beyond me. My Gas Safe plumber friend did ours in one day, including cutting a new flue hole - the old one exited to the rear of the house but the new one needed to go out the side wall - and the next morning just to tidy up all by himself, with 15 minutes help from me to actually lift the new boiler into place on the wall. I did do the reinstatement of brickwork where the old hole was myself.
The new inline skates that were supposed to be delivered Friday didn't arrive. The update said they are delayed due to severe weather. That's as good a lie as any as Thursday went from sunshine, to blowing dust, to thunderstorms and hail, to tornadoes, ending with 3" of snow by Friday morning. The updated delivery was moved to Tuesday. I just checked this morning and one update now says Wednesday for delivery yet another says the skates are out for delivery. What was irritating is that they've been sitting in a warehouse thirteen miles away from me since Friday morning.
On the other hand, it was probably a good thing they didn't arrive on Friday. I let the grandsons take me to the rink on Friday for my b'day, instead of my normal Thursday night roll. It was freakin' packed. Chances were that if you fell, you would have just been hauled along with the crowd instead of faceplanting on the floor.
The other grump was that I wanted to pull the mower out of the shed Saturday but found that the battery had packed it in.
On the other hand, it was probably a good thing they didn't arrive on Friday. I let the grandsons take me to the rink on Friday for my b'day, instead of my normal Thursday night roll. It was freakin' packed. Chances were that if you fell, you would have just been hauled along with the crowd instead of faceplanting on the floor.
The other grump was that I wanted to pull the mower out of the shed Saturday but found that the battery had packed it in.
Hope you enjoyed your Friday birthday skate.
Sounds like you could do with borrowing my new capacitor jump starter!
It would have gotten me started and out of the shed and into the garage, but the battery has met its maker. I threw on one of my many chargers; I have no idea why I have so many and let it charge for a few hours. It got up to 12.9V. I let it sit overnight and it dropped to 12.5V. Ran a load test. It dropped to 8V and never recovered past 11V after a ten second load test. Made the Sign of the cross for last rites and bought a new battery.Hope you enjoyed your Friday birthday skate.
Sounds like you could do with borrowing my new capacitor jump starter!
Our youngest did give me something for the b'day that I wasn't expecting.
I didn't know Daisy made big kid BB guns. "You'll shoot your eye out, kid!"
Yup, whack em with a good old heavy discharge always sorts the men from the boys?
The obvious question is - how old is your youngest? Followed by me thinking "only in America"Our youngest did give me something for the b'day that I wasn't expecting.
I didn't know Daisy made big kid BB guns. "You'll shoot your eye out, kid!"
I think I've mentioned before that where my daughter lived in Southern Maryland the little town they lived just outside held a wonderful event every month. "First Friday" they called it and the roads through town were all closed with the local shops setting up tables and dis[plays of their goods on the sidewalk - lots of free samples. It was a lovely event and we got to know a lot of local folk through it (they were very interested to hear the Scottish accent) Local fund raisers were much in evidence and on one which we attended the local round table ran a raffle - first prize? a shot gun! As I said, "Only In America"!
I've got to say as young teenagers we used to have BB gun battles...
Thick jacket, and sunglasses.. because safety.
However despite a group of us running round shooting eachother with both Airsoft pistols and air rifles no one lost an eye although the bruises were something.
Although we also used to have "Toy" axes and Machetes...and set fires..which we put out because we were good.
So not necessarily only in America
Sounds like my youth also, 6inch blade knives in sheaf on your belt, we made rope swings in the woods Saturday mornings, shot each other with airguns and catapults, made fires in the woods ate Harvest apple pies, crisps and lemonade, early 1960s, no one hurt and we all learnt boundaries.I've got to say young teenagers we used to have BB gun battles...
Thick jacket, and sunglasses.. because safety.
However despite a group of us running round shooting eachother with both Airsoft pistols and air rifles no one lost an eye although the bruises were something.
Although we also used to have "Toy" axes and Machetes...and set fires..which we put out because we were good.
So not necessarily only in America
This was late 90s but given there was a black smith at the end of my grannies street we were probably still in the 70s really. Remember getting a bus to the MetroCentre to buy a knife..no I.d. no sale? Nah mate sell a 12 year old a swiss army knife.
If my lad got up to half the stuff I did I'd have a coronary remember getting an absolute bollocking because my dad spotted corn stubble in the tyres of my bike. Because we'd absolutely not been rolling hay bales..."you've been in the Fields!" Of course it was only years later I realised he knew this because..he must have done it at some point.
If my lad got up to half the stuff I did I'd have a coronary remember getting an absolute bollocking because my dad spotted corn stubble in the tyres of my bike. Because we'd absolutely not been rolling hay bales..."you've been in the Fields!" Of course it was only years later I realised he knew this because..he must have done it at some point.
I've got to say as young teenagers we used to have BB gun battles...
Thick jacket, and sunglasses.. because safety.
However despite a group of us running round shooting eachother with both Airsoft pistols and air rifles no one lost an eye although the bruises were something.
Although we also used to have "Toy" axes and Machetes...and set fires..which we put out because we were good.
So not necessarily only in America
Oh what a hypocrite I am. We played cowboys and indians with air pistols and bows and arrows - remember the type of air pistol where the barrel popped out when you pulled the trigger? Smashed the windscreen of my Mini with one of them, when I forgot the barrel popped out! but that's another story. We lived on what was run basically as a small holding with 3 fields so lots of room for adventures. Neighbours kids would come over and join in too. On one occasion we were all in full cry chasing each other around with the guns and bows and arrows when someone's parent arrived to collect their little darling. My mum came out of the house to speak with them just as we (the cowboys) were in full route, having run out of pellets (the wee .177 ones with the "waist") and were being pursued by the indians firing arrows at us. One of the arrows - no softy suckers on them - went right between my mum and the child's parent! We never saw them again! It was my recently deceased brother who fired it. I did shoot him in the leg with one of the pellet guns on another occasion which necessitated a visit to the local cottage hospital to have it dug out. The pistols and bows were taken away after that.Sounds like my youth also, 6inch blade knives in sheaf on your belt, we made rope swings in the woods Saturday mornings, shot each other with airguns and catapults, made fires in the woods ate Harvest apple pies, crisps and lemonade, early 1960s, no one hurt and we all learnt boundaries.
It was only later when I joined the ACF and learned how to shoot safely (I made marksman) that I really appreciated how dangerous what we'd been doing really was - boy it was fun though!
My youngest will be 42 next month, so not so young anymore. She has two boys, so there are one or two early grey hairs.
San Turce, Puerto Rico has something like that on Thursday nights. It's a vegetable market during the day. At 5 pm on Thursday night, the vegetable stalls go down and there is a big change. Bars, restaurants, and specialty shops open up. It's a great time.
I don't recall any BB gun duels, probably because my Dad was a kid once. I did have a Daisy when I was 4 or 5, though I don't recall what happened to it. The most likely scenario was that my little brother broke it. His thinking was if he didn't have something I had, I shouldn't have it either. We aren't close. I recall some epic crab apple and sand burr battles, though.
As for, "Only in America", something happened in the eighties and that was Ronny Raygun and the "Rugged Individual", "The government is the problem", "Trickle Down Economics", and NAFTA. Reagan started NAFTA negotiations and Clinton signed it. All that had intended long term effects on the country to destroy the middle class.
When I was in high school in the early seventies, every other pickup in the school parking lot had a gun rack in the rear window. Half of those probably had a shotgun or a 30-30 in that rack. No one blinked an eye. No schools got shot up. I've carried a pocket knife since I was four. The NRA (National Rifle Association) was all about firearm safety, training, and let's just keep those firearms out of the hands of whack jobs.
Since Reagan, the NRA is all about the 2nd Amendment(The right to bear arms)and everyone must have a firearm to protect themselves against government tyranny. Well, that tyranny is blatant now and they've been silent. Education standards have dropped as have just about everything else except military spending and incarcerations. "America First" and Trumpkins MAGA are just dog whistles.
Rant over.
one of my good mates from school basically said the same thing, he has a 18 year old now who is now working in a McDonald’s on what used to be fields, which in the 90s they were turning into a “business park. My mate and I use to play on the plant machinery, run up and down inside newly laid storm drains and play in derelict buildings before they were demolished. How we never got caught I don’t know but this was before they put big railings up around building sites so you could just walk in
For some reason that was never clear I had a kettcar go cart...but mine was not the same as everyone else's (also you must have had one...or invented them one of the 2).
No it was a promotional item for the local bus company and a carpenter had built the large wooden double decker bus body on it. This has some advantages..one of which was whenever it went away for promotional work it got repainted in the latest livery.
Another advantage was it would go up on two wheels and you could balance it.
A disadvantage was it had a full floor so you couldn't put your feet down and the same floor would have fouled the handbrake...so it had been removed.
Amazingly this contraption only went on it's side once..
I’ve been overpaying my car to get it paid off fully by the end of this year. So far on track. A few grand left with some minor over payments it’ll be done by pay day December. Or so I thought… four emails today from the finance company saying I have new messages on the online account portal. When I looked… dated as if they came in over the last four months. But they certainly didn’t… I must log in around twice a week always looking for the updated settlement figure which takes ages to update.
The messages each say “your overpayment must be at least your normal monthly payment, do you want to increase your recent payment to this or have a refund?” Obviously, they only reached me today so if they did send these when they allege, they had no response for me and didn’t attempt to call, write a letter or anything. They’ve just been holding on to my money.
52 minutes of hold on the phone, I got through to someone. Told them I wasn’t happy at the lack of communication or falsifying the messages to appear that they were sent over the recent months. Simply not the case. Asked them to show me exactly where in the agreement I signed it says there’s a minimum. Much more waiting on hold for them to find it… they pointed to a clause about how early repayments are allowed, without penalty but at their discretion. Which is how they are telling me now it must be at least the monthly payment amount or more.
Essentially… they figured out I’m planning to pay it off so much earlier and they’re losing interest from it so they make it more difficult in an attempt to drag it out.
However, I figured out how to one up them. It’ll only save me around £120 on top of the multiple thousands I’m already saving by paying it off by the end of the year - not much - but something. Whilst giving me full flexibility to pay it off in the next 9 months… sooner or later at 0% in the form of a 20 month credit card. My application got approved at an absolutely stupidly high figure - any wonder people rack up debt they can’t manage.
So in a week or two, I’ll technically have the car paid off. A certain worlds largest car makers finance division, I’ll have washed my hands of and will have lost even more interest income from me. And I’ll have full flexibility to get myself rid of finance as I see fit, on time.
Mark my words, when this is all done with I’ll never finance anything again until it’s time to buy a house. Never missed a payment in my life, usually end up over paying. Other than cars, haven’t paid a penny of interest. I must be quite the nuisance to these finance companies
Frustrating afternoon sorting that, but happy ending at least.
The messages each say “your overpayment must be at least your normal monthly payment, do you want to increase your recent payment to this or have a refund?” Obviously, they only reached me today so if they did send these when they allege, they had no response for me and didn’t attempt to call, write a letter or anything. They’ve just been holding on to my money.
52 minutes of hold on the phone, I got through to someone. Told them I wasn’t happy at the lack of communication or falsifying the messages to appear that they were sent over the recent months. Simply not the case. Asked them to show me exactly where in the agreement I signed it says there’s a minimum. Much more waiting on hold for them to find it… they pointed to a clause about how early repayments are allowed, without penalty but at their discretion. Which is how they are telling me now it must be at least the monthly payment amount or more.
Essentially… they figured out I’m planning to pay it off so much earlier and they’re losing interest from it so they make it more difficult in an attempt to drag it out.
However, I figured out how to one up them. It’ll only save me around £120 on top of the multiple thousands I’m already saving by paying it off by the end of the year - not much - but something. Whilst giving me full flexibility to pay it off in the next 9 months… sooner or later at 0% in the form of a 20 month credit card. My application got approved at an absolutely stupidly high figure - any wonder people rack up debt they can’t manage.
So in a week or two, I’ll technically have the car paid off. A certain worlds largest car makers finance division, I’ll have washed my hands of and will have lost even more interest income from me. And I’ll have full flexibility to get myself rid of finance as I see fit, on time.
Mark my words, when this is all done with I’ll never finance anything again until it’s time to buy a house. Never missed a payment in my life, usually end up over paying. Other than cars, haven’t paid a penny of interest. I must be quite the nuisance to these finance companies
Frustrating afternoon sorting that, but happy ending at least.
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Back in the 1970s I bought a Ford Zephyr V6 on finance, half way through I got a snotty letter from them saying I wasn't keeping up the payments, I went steaming down to my bank who verified they had paid it from my banked wages regularly.I’ve been overpaying my car to get it paid off fully by the end of this year. So far on track. A few grand left with some minor over payments it’ll be done by pay day December. Or so I thought… four emails today from the finance company saying I have new messages on the online account portal. When I looked… dated as if they came in over the last four months. But they certainly didn’t… I must log in around twice a week always looking for the updated settlement figure which takes ages to update.
The messages each say “your overpayment must be at least your normal monthly payment, do you want to increase your recent payment to this or have a refund?” Obviously, they only reached me today so if they did send these when they allege, they had no response for me and didn’t attempt to call, write a letter or anything. They’ve just been holding on to my money.
52 minutes of hold on the phone, I got through to someone. Told them I wasn’t happy at the lack of communication or falsifying the messages to appear that they were sent over the recent months. Simply not the case. Asked them to show me exactly where in the agreement I signed it says there’s a minimum. Much more waiting on hold for them to find it… they pointed to a clause about how early repayments are allowed, without penalty but at their discretion. Which is how they are telling me now it must be at least the monthly payment amount or more.
Essentially… they figured out I’m planning to pay it off so much earlier and they’re losing interest from it so they make it more difficult in an attempt to drag it out.
However, I figured out how to one up them. It’ll only save me around £120 on top of the multiple thousands I’m already saving by paying it off by the end of the year - not much - but something. Whilst giving me full flexibility to pay it off in the next 9 months… sooner or later at 0% in the form of a 20 month credit card. My application got approved at an absolutely stupidly high figure - any wonder people rack up debt they can’t manage.
So in a week or two, I’ll technically have the car paid off. A certain worlds largest car makers finance division, I’ll have washed my hands of and will have lost even more interest income from me. And I’ll have full flexibility to get myself rid of finance as I see fit, on time.
Mark my words, when this is all done with I’ll never finance anything again until it’s time to buy a house. Never missed a payment in my life, usually end up over paying. Other than cars, haven’t paid a penny of interest. I must be quite the nuisance to these finance companies
Frustrating afternoon sorting that, but happy ending at least.
The fault was with the finance companies bank, I paid off the total in full, got a letter from the finance company saying thank you for doing business with! It was the last time I have ever got finance on anything apart from a house mortgage.
I should have listened to my mum "if you can't afford it , you can't have it!"
Neither a borrower nor a lender be. A maxim I've tried, reasonably successfully, all my life.I’ve been overpaying my car to get it paid off fully by the end of this year. So far on track. A few grand left with some minor over payments it’ll be done by pay day December. Or so I thought… four emails today from the finance company saying I have new messages on the online account portal. When I looked… dated as if they came in over the last four months. But they certainly didn’t… I must log in around twice a week always looking for the updated settlement figure which takes ages to update.
The messages each say “your overpayment must be at least your normal monthly payment, do you want to increase your recent payment to this or have a refund?” Obviously, they only reached me today so if they did send these when they allege, they had no response for me and didn’t attempt to call, write a letter or anything. They’ve just been holding on to my money.
52 minutes of hold on the phone, I got through to someone. Told them I wasn’t happy at the lack of communication or falsifying the messages to appear that they were sent over the recent months. Simply not the case. Asked them to show me exactly where in the agreement I signed it says there’s a minimum. Much more waiting on hold for them to find it… they pointed to a clause about how early repayments are allowed, without penalty but at their discretion. Which is how they are telling me now it must be at least the monthly payment amount or more.
Essentially… they figured out I’m planning to pay it off so much earlier and they’re losing interest from it so they make it more difficult in an attempt to drag it out.
However, I figured out how to one up them. It’ll only save me around £120 on top of the multiple thousands I’m already saving by paying it off by the end of the year - not much - but something. Whilst giving me full flexibility to pay it off in the next 9 months… sooner or later at 0% in the form of a 20 month credit card. My application got approved at an absolutely stupid figure - any wonder people rack up debt they can’t manage.
So in a week or two, I’ll technically have the car paid off. A certain worlds largest car makers finance division, I’ll have washed my hands of and will have lost even more interest income from me. And I’ll have full flexibility to get myself rid of finance as I see fit, on time.
Mark my words, when this is all done with I’ll never finance anything again until it’s time to buy a house. Never missed a payment in my life, usually end up over paying. Other than cars, haven’t paid a penny of interest. I must be quite the nuisance to these finance companies
Frustrating afternoon sorting that, but happy ending at least.
Good advice Mum. I've only ever taken a loan for two things. My mortgage, thankfully now fully paid off, and when I had double glazing fitted to the first house we bought as it had single gazed and very draughty wooden framed windows. I do use my credit card a lot - don't we all now a days - but both Mrs J and I keep a close eye on our bank account and don't buy something if funds aren't sufficient to cover it. The card is, as Martin Lewis is always advising us, Paid off in full every months. I suspect my credit rating is probably not as good as it could be due to this but It doesn't worry me - I think you have to borrow money without having problems paying it off to get a good score?
