What's made you grumpy today?

[irc]

Just finished some long-overdue jobs on my 100hp. Front & rear wheel bearings (actually only 3 were grumbling but I couldn't see the sense in leaving one), new inner CV boot to replace the one which was getting fried by the leak in the exhaust flexi pipe, new rear dampers and bump stops (they had both fallen off), and new discs and pads all round.
.
What's made me grumpy is that it is now so quiet I can hear the noisy tyres, and the slight leak in the (new) exhaust. And the tailgate rattles. And there's a creak from the dashboard. Grrrrr.

 

[portland_bill]

Received emails for myself and my partner to get a Covid booster jab. Options are book online, or call. As my partner is in a wheelchair, it makes sense to have both done at once, to save a second visit for me alone. So booking online won't work.
I did check online, and locations were not plentiful, especially with wheelchair access.
Made the call. Wait through a tedious set of recorded options, during which we are told that the operators have the same access to appointments as we can see online.
At last, an answer. Sounded like an Indian accent, but he spoke clearly, and understood the request. So far all good. He suggested a location, acceptable, but not on the online system. Booked mine, then the call cut off.
Had to call back, wade through the options again. A different operator, again with an Indian accent, but this time, difficult to understand, as he chose to mumble very quickly, running his words into each other. He did not seem to understand that this was a clarity issue, and kept increasing the volume. A loud incoherent mumble, is not easier than a quiet one. This guy was inflexible. He would only go through his standard questions, in order, without deviation, although he did ask some different questions, in a different order, than the first guy. Eventually we did get two appointments, same place, same time. But why such hard work? Surely many couples want the same thing?

The silliness continues.
Got a phone call this morning from our local surgery. Because my partner is classified as housebound, they will come out and vaccinate her at home, both the covid booster and the flu jab. They'd like to do this today.
I explained we'd got simultaneous appointments in a week's time.
Result, at 2:45 this afternoon, both of us got both shots, at home.
Cancelling the other appointments online was actually very easy, and got confirmation texts, so others can have those appointments.

 

[s130]

What's made me grumpy is that it is now so quiet I can hear the noisy tyres, and the slight leak in the (new) exhaust. And the tailgate rattles. And there's a creak from the dashboard. Grrrrr.

Well cars are always like "whack a mole"

 

[puntofan01]

This years' car insurance has gone up.

 

[StevenRB45]

Cleaned my headlamps this evening... discovered a spiderweb inside one of them. How the actual fudge am I getting that out without taking the front of the car apart?

 

[irc]

Cleaned my headlamps this evening... discovered a spiderweb inside one of them. How the actual fudge am I getting that out without taking the front of the car apart?

Bottlebrush through the bulb hole?
Talking of bizarre things in headlights, I once found a small stone inside a Panda headlight. Only holes in the light were the official ones. Puzzling!

 

[The Panda Nut]

I have a vacuum cleaner adapter it fits on the pipe and is a reducer taking a 10mm pipe. Probably from ebay. its had quite a few uses over the years including getting insects out of headlights. Alternatively you need to make a small buzzing noise in th engine bad while the dust rubber is off and maybe the spider willcome out and see whats causing it....

 

[StevenRB45]

Poor spider...he's had the most frustrating life. All those dead flies so close, yet so far.

Always happens to me this..last car had a reciept for 2 lightbulbs from Morrisons stuck to the AC condenser. It was there until I sold the car...it's probably still there now.

Again without taking front off you couldn't reach it..and given it was on a 10 year old Japanese AC condenser that was already shedding fins blasting it with a pressure washer would likely have ended with a new superleggera ac condenser and a bunch of metal confetti.

 

[bugsymike]

Poor spider...he's had the most frustrating life. All those dead flies so close, yet so far.

Always happens to me this..last car had a reciept for 2 lightbulbs from Morrisons stuck to the AC condenser. It was there until I sold the car...it's probably still there now.

Again without taking front off you couldn't reach it..and given it was on a 10 year old Japanese AC condenser that was already shedding fins blasting it with a pressure washer would likely have ended with a new superleggera ac condenser and a bunch of metal confetti.

Could be worse I knew a lorry mechanic in Australia who said some of the massive road trains they worked on used to have snakes wrapped around the front axle where they had reared up as the lorry sped along.

 

[Dan at Adrian Flux]

This years' car insurance has gone up.

Hi.
If you need any help with insurance at all then please feel free to drop me a line.
Regards,
Dan.

 

[Barchetta Bloke 440]

This made me a little sad ,not grumpy so here goes .

Earlier I saw a lorry from the same scrap car removal firm that took away both my Fiats 14 months ago.
On the back .last car on ,was a Seicento , a local to me car , I recognised it as it is dark blue with some star stickers on it . I know where it lived .

When I got home I checked the MOT history ,it still has a valid ticket until February ,so it must have suffered a catastrophic failure to engine or gearbox perhaps .

With galvanised outer panels ,it's unlikely you're going to see a rotten Sei ,unless you're looking at it from underneath .

 

[AndyRKett]

This made me a little sad ,not grumpy so here goes .

Earlier I saw a lorry from the same scrap car removal firm that took away both my Fiats 14 months ago.
On the back .last car on ,was a Seicento , a local to me car , I recognised it as it is dark blue with some star stickers on it . I know where it lived .

When I got home I checked the MOT history ,it still has a valid ticket until February ,so it must have suffered a catastrophic failure to engine or gearbox perhaps .

With galvanised outer panels ,it's unlikely you're going to see a rotten Sei ,unless you're looking at it from underneath .

Weren’t they plagued with terrible electrics, probably very costly if you need anything like a control module specific to the sei

 

[varesecrazy]

Not terrible.. but probably not perfect

Head Gasket Could be a big bill on a cheap car..
And most were relatively expensive to tax also.. our 1108cc was £180 !!

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Not terrible.. but probably not perfect

Head Gasket Could be a big bill on a cheap car..
And most were relatively expensive to tax also.. our 1108cc was £180 !!

Road tax. I'm dreading when the time comes that we may have to buy a "new" car. Our existing cars are costing us next to nothing. Ibiza is zero rated so free and the Panda, being a Dynamic Eco is only £30. Both pretty cheap to insure too. Definitely influences me when making choices about the cost of repairs.

 

[Barchetta Bloke 440]

I was watching an interesting documentary earlier and then I got interrupted ,by a Nissan Micra crashing into a lamppost outside .

I've lived here 31 years and there has been countless crashes on my road ,I can recall 5 straight away ,there have been ,many more .

The last one was an Audi that driver claimed to have fallen asleep after a night shift ,crashed into the line of parked cars outside .
Hit the builders van first ,pushed into a Skoda Octavia ,pushed into a Ducato type van that might also have nudged next door's Lupo .
First 2 of those written off .

Don't know who or where the driver was but the ambulance carted away a rear passenger .

 

[portland_bill]

I was watching an interesting documentary earlier and then I got interrupted ,by a Nissan Micra crashing into a lamppost outside .

I've lived here 31 years and there has been countless crashes on my road ,I can recall 5 straight away ,there have been ,many more .

The last one was an Audi that driver claimed to have fallen asleep after a night shift ,crashed into the line of parked cars outside .
Hit the builders van first ,pushed into a Skoda Octavia ,pushed into a Ducato type van that might also have nudged next door's Lupo .
First 2 of those written off .

Don't know who or where the driver was but the ambulance carted away a rear passenger .

Perhaps you need some speed bumps, see if you can launch them into gardens.

Are they all travelling in the same direction? If so, campaign to make it a one-way street, the opposite way. then they can all crash elsewhere.

 

[Barchetta Bloke 440]

Perhaps you need some speed bumps, see if you can launch them into gardens.

Are they all travelling in the same direction? If so, campaign to make it a one-way street, the opposite way. then they can all crash elsewhere.

It's a dual carriageway , 2 lanes each way , speed was off the scale until the average 40mph cameras went up , some still ignore those ,you can turn onto
the road between cameras and turn off again before an average is taken .
I have no idea how last night's crash happened ,no one else seemed to be involved .

 

[StevenRB45]

Looking at internet banking..."Check your credit score"

"Credit score has fallen since May as you've got nothing on credit"

Now this is a check performed by my bank who know I have one credit card with a small limit. I use it entirely to buy fuel or for online purchases so if it gets nicked I can stop payments/it's not the account the mortgage comes from. It does however get used at least weekly.

However what I find a bit annoying about it..they know it's well out of the initial interest free period so if I were to use this credit card..I'd be paying the bank interest which I currently don't to them.

Oddly enough have other credit score stuff on the go..and none of them mention this mysterious...

 

[bugsymike]

Looking at internet banking..."Check your credit score"

"Credit score has fallen since May as you've got nothing on credit"

Now this is a check performed by my bank who know I have one credit card with a small limit. I use it entirely to buy fuel or for online purchases so if it gets nicked I can stop payments/it's not the account the mortgage comes from. It does however get used at least weekly.

However what I find a bit annoying about it..they know it's well out of the initial interest free period so if I were to use this credit card..I'd be paying the bank interest which I currently don't to them.

Oddly enough have other credit score stuff on the go..and none of them mention this mysterious...

Banking is all geared towards encouraging you to get into debt , then hitting you hard when you do. Worrying about "credit scores" is just another tool in their armory.
The only credit card I had was with Barclays in 1971, the limit then was £250 I think, which I was well below, at the same time I had about £250 in a deposit account with them, the statements came in and I compared them and promptly cut up the Barclaycard!
I grew up in a poor family, but my mum always said "if you can't afford it, you can't have it" another was "never a lender nor borrower be" apart from the mortgage it has stood me in good stead

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Banking is all geared towards encouraging you to get into debt , then hitting you hard when you do. Worrying about "credit scores" is just another tool in their armory.
The only credit card I had was with Barclays in 1971, the limit then was £250 I think, which I was well below, at the same time I had about £250 in a deposit account with them, the statements came in and I compared them and promptly cut up the Barclaycard!
I grew up in a poor family, but my mum always said "if you can't afford it, you can't have it" another was "never a lender nor borrower be" apart from the mortgage it has stood me in good stead

Absolutely Mike. My mantra in life too. Bequeathed to me by my Mum. I can hear her voice saying "Neither a borrower nor a lender be" as clear as if she's standing here right now. We've only ever bought two things on credit. One was the house mortgage - thankfully paid up in full some years ago - and when we double glazed our last house which had single pane and somewhat rotten framed windows when we bought it. I do have a credit card but use it for convenience only paying it off every month so no interest accrues. If we can't afford it we simply do without. The peace of mind it brings is not to be under rated.