What annoyed you today?

[mac11irl]

51 minutes ago, @Lee said:

Mac, the subject of KFC came up elsewhere today and this was in the mentions.  Article >> https://www.ladbible.com/more/trending-a-canadian-youtuber-seems-to-think-so-watch-here-20210203

 

 

i did tell ya! 

[@Lee]

9 minutes ago, mac11irl said:

 

i did tell ya! 

[unclerichy]

I should know better but I put an old PC (sans hard disk) on Facebook marketplace with clear information but, of course, no bugger reads any of that so after a flurry of "is this still available?" messages and a few "it's clear you never read beyond £50 PC in the title" questions followed by radio silence someone picked it up. They now say it doesn't work which is odd as it was happy as Larry less than 24 hours ago so tomorrow I may be going to collect it and refunding them.

 

Every. Damned. Time. All being well I have now learned my lesson.

 

Suffice to say the rest of the kit I was going to Fleabay/Spacebook is going to the tip instead as I can't deal with any more buyers on either platform.

 

[AnnoyingPentium]

1 minute ago, unclerichy said:

Suffice to say the rest of the kit I was going to Fleabay/Spacebook is going to the tip instead as I can't deal with any more buyers on either platform.

 

Hang on just there... what you got?

 

(I learned a long time ago, if you don't ask you don't get)

[AnnoyingPentium]

Well, looks like we're finally leaving our fixed tariff contract for gas and 'leccy at the start of March. According to the ****ebag thieving p****s we're with now, it's set to have another £100 a month added to the existing bill.

 

****ing wonderful.

Edited 21 February, 2023 by AnnoyingPentium
It turns out that one of those words doesn't get censored. Whoopsies.

[Colin170CR]

1 hour ago, AnnoyingPentium said:

Well, looks like we're finally leaving our fixed tariff contract for gas and 'leccy at the start of March. According to the ****ebag thieving p****s we're with now, it's set to have another £100 a month added to the existing bill.

 

****ing wonderful.

I'm with you. On top of everything else this is a real kick in the nuts.

Our DD just went up from £185/month for gas & leccy to £340/month because we are £750 in debit on our account & that's on a standard Octopus tariff!! 

However I have a plan. Solar & batteries get installed next month which should save a shed load of grid power & gas (for Hot water). I'm also working on an alternative HW & heating system to replace the gas boiler so we can go gas free. F U Putin or wherever we get our gas from these days. 

I might not be around to get my money back (ROI estimated 8-10 years on the solar) but the way I look at it is, I would rather spend my own money / pension pot on a Solar / battery & future air to air heat pump & hot water system than get raped by the money grabbing utility companies. You can't take it with you so I might as well up-spec our house so the kids can benefit more from it when we are are gone. 

My take on it any how.   

 

[AnnoyingPentium]

7 hours ago, Colin170CR said:

I'm with you. On top of everything else this is a real kick in the nuts.

Our DD just went up from £185/month for gas & leccy to £340/month because we are £750 in debit on our account & that's on a standard Octopus tariff!! 

However I have a plan. Solar & batteries get installed next month which should save a shed load of grid power & gas (for Hot water). I'm also working on an alternative HW & heating system to replace the gas boiler so we can go gas free. F U Putin or wherever we get our gas from these days. 

I might not be around to get my money back (ROI estimated 8-10 years on the solar) but the way I look at it is, I would rather spend my own money / pension pot on a Solar / battery & future air to air heat pump & hot water system than get raped by the money grabbing utility companies. You can't take it with you so I might as well up-spec our house so the kids can benefit more from it when we are are gone. 

My take on it any how.   

 

 

Ours is going from about £140 to about £250 or so I think, if not more. It's bloody annoying. The good thing is that this house is well insulated being a "new" (2007) build so it's holding the heat, maybe even a little too well as I'm roasting while typing this.

 

The problem we've got is the electronic devices like the televisions, all of them besides the living room one are about the same age, if not older, than the house itself. The good thing is that we're coming into the "warm" time of the year which should alleviate some of the gas costs with some luck. Beyond that, we're just doing what we can with what we have to cut usage down a bit.

[Ootohere]

What has annoyed me is that the Scottish Government dropped the £25 cold weather payment that has been paid for many winters between November & March if you are on certain benefits & the Temperature or forecast temperature is 0*oC for 7 days.

The most it was in a winter for my Post Code Area was 7 X £25 twice, a few 5 x £25 and some £25 once or twice in the winter. 

Missed by a day of being 7 days.

 

So this year lots of Post Code Areas in England & Wales have had payments as reported in the press.

 

Scotland has a new Scheme from the new Benefits set up in Scotland.

The spin is that 'More people will qualify for £50 Cold Weather payment paid from February 2023.

On Universal Credit etc etc.

 

Well spin.  First they have messed up.  From February can mean March, well it might well be March.  A letter will tell you if entitled etc.

Well yes it will,  but many that qualified for Cold Weather £25 a week payments because they had the lowest incomes will not qualify for the £50  WINTER HEATING PAYMENT.

Wrong Benefits and getting less income on others that have more money than them.

http://dailyrecord.co.uk/lifestyle/money/new-update-winter-heating-payment-29164799

 

 

...............

So my good news.   Thank goodness pretty mild this winter up my way. 

I have pretty much frozen all winter through choice, minimum use of the gas CH, 

just to not pay Eon Next loads of money.  Too tight to heat, love eating but cheaply and sometimes having treats.

 

They stopped taking my £50 DD i wanted to keep paying when the £400 credit started & credited me the 6 x £66 or £67 a month.

My fixed tariff finishes on the 24th & i go on the Standard Tariff. 

 

Tomorrow i will be £50 in debt, but my first DD comes out of £83.  That is me £33 in credit.   1st-3rd March the last £67 credit will be on my account.

This morning i get notified i qualify for the £150 Warm Home Discount.

 

WARM HOME DISCOUNT SCOTLAND, different from WHD England and Wales, but there is a BROADER Group in Scotland.

You have to Apply.  In England & Wales if you qualify then it is automatic.

http://www.gov.uk/the-warm-home-discount-scheme/low-income

 

 

So after a damn cold house this winter so far and it is still cold i have lost some body fat & will start the rest of the year £256 in Credit.

On the new tariff my Electric use and 2 daily standing charges will be about £75 a month. That might go up with a price rise to near the £83 DD i have in place.

 

They are not getting the £150 a month they want to increase my DD to while i sit over £250 in Credit. 

[SteveTheElder]

Last month I had a similar email from e.on Next wanting push up my DD by £13/mth whilst I had an account credit of over £320 (the day before January's payment was due). Funnily enough, after a phone call it came down considerably!

 

What really gets to me is that the utility companies [seemingly] push up DDs in the hope people don't notice and they can benefit from the higher income stream. If only they could apply some proper logic...

[Gaz]

Well I'm obviously feeling better.  Needed to get out for some fresh air/change of scene/respite from Tortoise, so I took a slow wander up my garden path, thought 'this feels okay' so kept going to my car, and did my favourite 21 mile lap 😎

 

At the eastern end of the Polegate by-pass I'm in the outside lane as I'm turning right towards Golden Jubilee Way.  After this roundabout, there's a very short section of two-lane before another roundabout, then it's straight across to GJW.  On this short section a Honda Jazz pulls out of the nearside lane to in front of me, then stops at the completely and utterly empty roundabout 😡  This is one of my pet hates, and I can't help but wonder WTF is going through these people's heads. As my dear old Dad used to say, you wouldn't give them a licence to push prams.  They then wait for traffic, and then miss two further opportunities to pull out (that a constipated slug wouldn't miss), at which point I'm presuming they're turning right for Polegate or shopping at Aldi (the nearside lane (left of us) is now completely clear), but no, they're going straight across to GJW.  Wheezily makes it to 60mph (70mph road) in the outside lane, overtakes nothing, and a mile later, approaching the next roundabout, forces their way into queueing traffic in the nearside lane, to go straight across (albeit it's still two lanes to two lanes so they didn't need to).

 

People who stop at empty roundabouts where there's good visibility, plenty of time, and nothing in their way really annoy me.

 

Gaz

 

[skomaz]

1 hour ago, Gaz said:

Well I'm obviously feeling better.  Needed to get out for some fresh air/change of scene/respite from Tortoise, so I took a slow wander up my garden path, thought 'this feels okay' so kept going to my car, and did my favourite 21 mile lap 😎

 

At the eastern end of the Polegate by-pass I'm in the outside lane as I'm turning right towards Golden Jubilee Way.  After this roundabout, there's a very short section of two-lane before another roundabout, then it's straight across to GJW.  On this short section a Honda Jazz pulls out of the nearside lane to in front of me, then stops at the completely and utterly empty roundabout 😡  This is one of my pet hates, and I can't help but wonder WTF is going through these people's heads. As my dear old Dad used to say, you wouldn't give them a licence to push prams.  They then wait for traffic, and then miss two further opportunities to pull out (that a constipated slug wouldn't miss), at which point I'm presuming they're turning right for Polegate or shopping at Aldi (the nearside lane (left of us) is now completely clear), but no, they're going straight across to GJW.  Wheezily makes it to 60mph (70mph road) in the outside lane, overtakes nothing, and a mile later, approaching the next roundabout, forces their way into queueing traffic in the nearside lane, to go straight across (albeit it's still two lanes to two lanes so they didn't need to).

 

People who stop at empty roundabouts where there's good visibility, plenty of time, and nothing in their way really annoy me.

 

Gaz

 

 

Excellent rant - made me smile that did...

[Colin170CR]

35 minutes ago, Gaz said:

Well I'm obviously feeling better.  Needed to get out for some fresh air/change of scene/respite from Tortoise, so I took a slow wander up my garden path, thought 'this feels okay' so kept going to my car, and did my favourite 21 mile lap 😎

 

At the eastern end of the Polegate by-pass I'm in the outside lane as I'm turning right towards Golden Jubilee Way.  After this roundabout, there's a very short section of two-lane before another roundabout, then it's straight across to GJW.  On this short section a Honda Jazz pulls out of the nearside lane to in front of me, then stops at the completely and utterly empty roundabout 😡  This is one of my pet hates, and I can't help but wonder WTF is going through these people's heads. As my dear old Dad used to say, you wouldn't give them a licence to push prams.  They then wait for traffic, and then miss two further opportunities to pull out (that a constipated slug wouldn't miss), at which point I'm presuming they're turning right for Polegate or shopping at Aldi (the nearside lane (left of us) is now completely clear), but no, they're going straight across to GJW.  Wheezily makes it to 60mph (70mph road) in the outside lane, overtakes nothing, and a mile later, approaching the next roundabout, forces their way into queueing traffic in the nearside lane, to go straight across (albeit it's still two lanes to two lanes so they didn't need to).

 

People who stop at empty roundabouts where there's good visibility, plenty of time, and nothing in their way really annoy me.

 

Gaz

 

I agree. They are not looking ahead or side to side when approaching the roundabout. 

Where I live we have the highest percentage of roundabouts (930 in the city & surrounding areas) in the country & the lane discipline of most drivers when entering & leaving a roundabout is pretty much non existent. This is not helped by the fact that every so often the left hand lane at a roundabout is a left turn only lane. This catches a lot of people out causing them to cut across lanes to go straight on which is usually met with a volley of honking horns & animated hand gestures. There are hardly any advance road signs informing drivers of the left lane for left turn, centre for straight on & right hand lane for right turn only. The road markings at the entry to the roundabout showing the lane assignment are often badly faded & very hard to see until it's too late. Also, any queuing traffic covers up the road markings so you don't know which lane to get in until you actually get to the front of the que.

The only upside is that because their are so many roundabouts if you are forced to go the wrong way you only have to drive a few hundred yard before you hit another roundabout & you can tack across to get back on the road you need. Vary rarely do I drive the same route across town & come back the same way. "All roads lead to Rome" syndrome.   

[Ootohere]

@Gaz hoping you are on the mend.

When this popped up on my phone i was thinking this might just help raise your blood pressure if your sitting with an elevated leg..

 

 

[mac11irl]

the twunt driving last night on my way back from circuit training with no dip beam lights, who had to stop and pull in everytime a car was coming the other way.

 

the fact that it was me just added to it!

the fact both bulbs went within 30mins of drive time of each other was the REALLY annoying bit. on top of the bbs only being 3-4 months old philips extreme whatevers. be digging out that receipt and bouncing them across the motor factor's counter for a refund!

 

[Titanium_Man]

 Driving to North Devon for work this morning and the number or morons with only their DRL’s on (so no rear lights) not realising they’re pretty much invisible to those behind them due to the spray off the motorway. 
 

Madness. 😱

[skomaz]

55 minutes ago, mac11irl said:

the twunt driving last night on my way back from circuit training with no dip beam lights, who had to stop and pull in everytime a car was coming the other way.

 

the fact that it was me just added to it!

the fact both bulbs went within 30mins of drive time of each other was the REALLY annoying bit. on top of the bbs only being 3-4 months old philips extreme whatevers. be digging out that receipt and bouncing them across the motor factor's counter for a refund!

 

 

Ooh that's a bugger!  I replaced all 4 in the Kodiaq just after we got it with Osram Nightbreakers but kept a pair of the originals in the boot just in case as I'd heard stories about the lack of longevity.

[mac11irl]

1 hour ago, skomaz said:

 

Ooh that's a bugger!  I replaced all 4 in the Kodiaq just after we got it with Osram Nightbreakers but kept a pair of the originals in the boot just in case as I'd heard stories about the lack of longevity.

 

ive used Osram Nightbreakers since 2013... never had one last less than a yr.. most last about 18-24months.

i remember the Xtremes being noted as brighter but shorter lived, but i needed to change out a blown nappa (dont....) and wanted them to still match. motor factor only had the philips so i took them.

feck that ever again!

[Colin170CR]

23 minutes ago, mac11irl said:

 

ive used Osram Nightbreakers since 2013... never had one last less than a yr.. most last about 18-24months.

i remember the Xtremes being noted as brighter but shorter lived, but i needed to change out a blown nappa (dont....) and wanted them to still match. motor factor only had the philips so i took them.

feck that ever again!

Sounds like a good advert for LED. 💡 I can't imagine not having them now.

[KenONeill]

2 hours ago, Titanium_Man said:

 Driving to North Devon for work this morning and the number or morons with only their DRL’s on (so no rear lights) not realising they’re pretty much invisible to those behind them due to the spray off the motorway. 
 

Madness. 😱

Too right; I actually got my transport manager to send out a safety bulletin explaining this point to the entire staff at work...

[mac11irl]

well, i pulled into the local ecp on the way home (yes, we have an actuall exp in a building now!)

left a little.... lighter... (awful pun...)

 

been one of those weeks.. obviously id lost both dip bulbs on monday, well 1 front fog had also gone.

so i said get 2 of those aswell figuring on the other going soon too...

came out jumped in the car to go home, got all the bulb out messages, 

flicked on the lights as i was facing a nice big shop front..

marker lights and full beam👍

dip beams - dead

annnnnnnd.... BOTH fog lights gone 🤣🤣🤣🤣 

jesus christ, but i clearly upset the filament protection gods at some point last week...

 

[MikeTheThinker]

I'm very interested to see how you get on with the Osrams.  I always used to buy them before I bought the Scout with HIDs but when my wife requested an upgrade for her 1.9tdi last Autumn the online reviews were indicating Phillips.  She's now had three fail on her and I'm not holding my breath on the fourth.

 

When I had my mk1 (1,9tdi estate) I put a pair of (ahem) 80w H4s in it and between then (2011) and now only one has failed (SIL now drives it).  I did wonder about repeating the exercise for 'er indoors but it's difficult finding longevity information on such.

 

[Breezy_Pete]

7 hours ago, mac11irl said:

 

jesus christ, but i clearly upset the filament protection gods at some point last week...

 

 

Worth a quick look with a multimeter to check that your alternator isn't putting out too many volts. Check voltage at battery terminals,  at idle and 2k rpm with an accelerator pusher assistant. 

[mac11irl]

well..... this morning only 1 fog was gone again 🤣

changed the 2 dips out, but removed 2 Osrams, not philips..  so now im wondering if ive done them dirty and it was my main beams i replaced.

 

either that or Osram are making bulbs for philips aswell!! or im going insane ..

[Gaz]

I had a similar problem with an Accord that used to like eating brake light bulbs.  It drove me nuts.  Dash used to light up like a Christmas tree.  Take the bulb out and there's nothing wrong with it.  Check the holder and basic wiring.  Put the bulb back, or even a new one, and it'll go again shortly after.  What I eventually worked out was that the crimps on the two pylons (for the want of a better word) that held the filament used to uncrimp with heat and let the filament go, and the filament would then reconnect with the pylon as it cooled.

 

Never got to the bottom of it before trading it in for a Passat, but I suspect it could've been what Pete mentioned earlier.  Them filament gods sure are fickle!

 

G

[skomaz]

The rear wiper arm on the Kodiaq annoyed me today - it's snapped off with the weight of snow sliding down it from the roof.

 

Well - that and the cost of a replacement...