What's made you grumpy today?

[Cheest]

Reading between the lines is a Contact Sport here in the US. Anything spoken by an elected or appointed official above postal employee needs to be taken with a grain of salt at the onset. Most don't start out that way, but many end being able to lie convincingly. It's a gift or an art I've never bothered to master.

Sen. Rubio, R-FL, tho, wouldn't know the truth if it hauled off and punched him in the nuts. Repeatedly. No idea why he's asking questions.

 

[Eklipze3k]

Yes you can read into it another way...but I don't think that's particularly likely.

You dont have to dig too deep into Mr McT's post history to see he's a bit of a conspiracist.

 

[PuntoHowTo]

During a Senate hearing, Senator Marco Rubio (Republican of Florida) asked Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland about the presence of chemical or biological weapons in the Ukraine. Unprovoked, she stated that USA does not fund "bioweapon research" in Ukraine. That was not the question, but her choice of words indicates they are funding biolabs in Ukraine. We all know that dangerous pathogens can be used as weapons so one thing pretty much equates to the other.

She went on to say, "Ukraine has biological research facilities which, in fact, we’re now quite concerned Russian troops, Russian forces may be seeking to gain control of, so we are working with the Ukrainians on how we can prevent any of those research materials from falling into the hands of Russian forces should they approach."

The Russians can't be trusted any more than USA Site Department but it appears (at least on this one) that Russian "misinformation" was actually true.

I have shares in a multitude of companies many of whom operate in the Ukraine. Proctor and Gamble, Unilever, GSK.

Now these companies and many other chemical and pharmaceutical companies work with chemicals and biological agents… it’s pretty hard to make biological washing powder without biological agents. I’m sure like me, many Americans have shares or interests in companies like this operating in the Ukraine, doesn’t mean anyone is making weapons, just means that labs looking for cures to a number of viruses or creating new antibiotics might not want their research blown up and turned into an aerosols for the nearby population to inhale. Or worse the viruses and bacteria to be sent into the air by the building being destroyed. As pointed out many a university will legitimately have samples of some pretty nasty pathogens in their fridges.

I remember a time when no one believed any of the bullshire coming from Russia, now it seems anyone who is a trump supporter is willing to forgo all common sense and find a conspiracy in everything.

What next? Nappy manufacturers twisting the minds of children to make them need more nappies

 

[vexorg]

I'm sure Qanon have all the answers

 

[StevenRB45]

I'm sure Qanon have all the answers

If not Smarties will...

 

[portland_bill]

Waste food bin missed today - Again!
The guy walks down the road with a wheelie bin, stops at my next-door neighbour's bin and empties it into his wheelie bin. My food bin is now masked from his view by his wheelie bin. So off he goes down to the next house. Tunnel vision.
Is it so difficult to count to two? Two houses, two recycling wheelie bins, so there should be two food bins? I know that job does not require significant skill, and is probably very boring, but surely, one bin per house is not that difficult.

I called Biffa. "We may not be able to get hold of the driver until the shift returns to depot."
My answer. "As the truck driver spends most of his time staring into his phone screen, he should notice an incoming call." Long pause. "Oh, I'll pass that on to the supervisor."

We wait.

 

[StevenRB45]

My wife just asked me "did you know the drawer on your side of the bed is broken?"

I didn't...because it wasn't.. and I'm sure the fact she was putting clothes in it at the time and it was already full had nothing to do with it breaking.

Anyway 3 of 4 dowels broken clean off...and the cam screws bent...and the baton that supports the drawer split at one end.

Cam screws should ride again..if I take it easy doing them back up..off to B and Q for a pack of dowels and hopefully flipping the batten so the unsplit side is taking the weight, glue the spilt together and bind it that should do it.

If not I'm cutting and drilling a new batten..and the likely more annoying bit finding some new cam screws in the correct diameter.

edit: All sorted...found a shop with with cam screws in...not the shop I got the dowels from natch..but it's together and sorted and 98% at least as strong as it was on day 1 6 years ago.

Just as well as I got the cam screws when I took the whole thing out to put it back together the other ones I'd not checked were banana'd.

Of course..none of the MDF was straight either....

 

[Cheest]

Well, this was actually on Sunday.
Mrs. Cheest and I were running errands in the Chevy. We are about finished when she wants to run to the meat market in the little town of Creston. Great meat market, BTW. I tell her it's closed on Sunday. She says it isn't, so I grin and bear it, then head west for the 30 minute drive to Creston. Creston is in the middle of Nowhere, Illannoy. It's surrounded by open prairie and the wind was wicked. As I'm making the left turn from the farm road into town, the power steering pump on the Chevy lets out a horrible growl, like the pump is ready to go south. I cross my fingers as we get into town and...the meat market is closed.

Mrs. Cheest says that rare thing that all married guys want to hear from their significant others. "You were right." She screwed up her face to say it. So now I have to drive 30 miles back with a PS pump that is really complaining. I get home and pop the hood. There is still oil in the pump, but not a lot. I follow the hoses from the steering motor and there is oil all over the front pan by the grill. I pop the shield between the grill and the radiator and there is oil dripping from the PS cooler. In fifty + years of driving I have never had an oil cooler fail.

Apparently, it's not an uncommon problem because when I entered 'Power Steering Cooler' into Google, the first thing that came up was 'Power Steering Cooler Failure 2009 Silverado 1500'. The local auto parts store couldn't get me one until Thursday and I'd need to pay the freight. Amazon had one to me today. That's tomorrow's job as it's getting late, the temp is dropping like a rock and I had my second booster yesterday. I felt good all day yesterday, slept in a bit this morning, had a bad case of 'Assus Draggus' hit me about 15:00 this afternoon. I want a nap.

 

[StevenRB45]

Direct injection things....flat spot in the C3 is slowly getting worse. No warning lights but suspect the valves are coked up. Booked in for May..it's still got warranty so we'll see oddly some of the fixes seem to be..."replace engine".

Oh and when I signed up for the whole kids thing nobody mentioned that I'd have to fend off an angry queen bee in my bathroom while a distraught small person was firing unpleasant fluids at me from both ends.

 

[Cheest]

Oh and when I signed up for the whole kids thing nobody mentioned that I'd have to fend off an angry queen bee in my bathroom while a distraught small person was firing unpleasant fluids at me from both ends.

I'm trying hard not to laugh at this, but you ain't seen nuthin' yet. I can say this because my youngest turns 39 today and has two of her own..

 

[StevenRB45]

I'm trying hard not to laugh at this, but you ain't seen nuthin' yet. I can say this because my youngest turns 39 today and has two of her own..

Feel free to laugh at it...

I did, the absolute ridiculousness was just beyond parody.

Can just imagine a team of writers sitting down and writing my morning. Then going to the network exec and being told tone it down a bit.."no one will believe that, why would there be a queen bee in a light fitting at that moment?".

Better than last time he was sick...there was no bee but he got me in the face.

 

[Cheest]

Better than last time he was sick...there was no bee but he got me in the face.

Been there, done that. Threw away the t-shirt and shaved off the beard.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Possibly the worst incident of that type - but there were many - was when my youngest boy woke us in the early hours with his crying. He sounded quite distressed so we both jumped out of bed and rushed through to his bedroom just in time for him to administer projectile vomiting all over the wall behind his cot and then, as we rushed to him he turned and "spray painted" us both with it! The mess and smell was awful!

The other real Beaut was during one of our holidays in Cyprus. My brother in law was a Cyprus Airways pilot so he and Mrs J's sister lived in Cyprus. As long as we could scrape together the air fairs we could stay virtually for free so we spent many of our summer holidays there when we were young and poor. They lived just outside Larnaca towards the Dhekelia base. On this occasion we had been lent a car - Opel Kadett - by one of their pilot friends so we could travel around the island. We were on our way back after a long day out to the western end of the island and my older boy was asleep on the floor in the back with my wife cradling my daughter (youngest hadn't yet even been "thought about" then) partly on her lap, partly on the back seat, when my daughter suddenly had horrendous diarrhea - all over my poor wife's lap and my poor older boy who was on the floor at my wife's feet. Luckily - could you use that word in this context? - we were on the coast road between Paphos and Larnaca and in those days you could just drive down onto the beach, which I did. We dunked both children and Mrs J in the sea and stripped the kids clothes. Mrs J completed the journey in her underwear. The Opal was a base model so had vinyl upholstery and rubber floor mats I was able to take the rear seat squab out completely and wash it in the sea and the floor mats too which left just a wee bit of "fine tuning" when we got back to my brother in law's house. It actually cleaned up pretty well.

I was really worried, and embarrassed, when it came time to hand the car back to my brother in law's friend, imagining he might insist on an expensive deep clean, but he was not at all concerned saying that they'd been meaning to buy a newer car for some time - it was a second car for his wife to run around in - and so this would force him to get off his butt and do something about it.

Oh the joys of family life?

 

[Cheest]

Just wait, payback will come and it will be hilarious.

Case in point, when our first grandkid was born, she was only a couple days old when we first got to see her. Our son in law was attempting to burp her and she ralphed on his neck and down the front of his t-shirt. He did an OMG, held her away from him just as she had a blow out from her diaper. He was wearing shorts and sandals.

Mrs. Cheest and I were laughing so hard we couldn't breathe. Mrs. Cheest shouted, "Payback at last." I wanted to say something along the lines of, "that's what you get for impregnating my little girl", but thought better of it. I'm sure the 1200 mile car ride home would have been bad for me had I said it and I'd still be paying for it these past 14 years.

 

[Cheest]

Flight delays on top of flight delays.
I was supposed to be in Cancun, for work, (truth) at 7:30 last night. I didn’t see my hotel room until after 2am this morning.

 

[StevenRB45]

Work people...

Someone emailed me yesterday for latest plans...I sent over, later in the day they sent something out which had the old plan on it.

Emailed them to check what's up..and they then say they've not seen the plan before I sent it over. Not only that but they've clearly not looked at what they asked me to send them as you'd imagine they'd have mentioned it!

So you know benefit of the doubt, I fish through what I've sent out..and there it is in April..Odd perhaps they missed that. Double check the stuff I've been sending out 3 times since to make sure I've not accidentally sent the wrong thing out in the interim..No.

Check the centralised holding area for the plans that matches their version...which is odd because I distinctly remember changing it. Of course it's a share point so you can see history of it, and whaddya know I changed it in April.. then they changed it back...then changed it again a week later...and they changed it back.

And they have the brass balls to tell me this is the 1st they've heard of it...yeah no.

 

[Cheest]

Ahh, the old “I’ve never heard about this” gambit. I had a manager that was known for it. I’d get a snarky, “I guess I’m being kept out of the loop on this” and then I’d forward the email chain to her and tell her how far down the chain she’d have to go to find her first email. Usually the second or third down.

 

[StevenRB45]

Ahh, the old “I’ve never heard about this” gambit. I had a manager that was known for it. I’d get a snarky, “I guess I’m being kept out of the loop on this” and then I’d forward the email chain to her and tell her how far down the chain she’d have to go to find her first email. Usually the second or third down.

I'd have sympathy for it if they'd missed one email..especially with the amount of "FYI" stuff that flies round. One day someone will say say "so what's your opinion on X?" and you'll be baffled then realise 2 weeks ago 9 emails deep on an FYI chain there was a question they wanted answered.

But in this case...not only have they been given the correct info..on seeing the info they've changed it to the wrong info Even if you'd missed all the emails...surely you'd wonder who was going into the plan and changing it and to what purpose.

 

[s130]

Well today I had to make an insurance claim, first in well over 20 years.

On 16 March I was driving from Southampton to my new home in North Wales. Somewhere north of midlands ( i think) going through some odd road/roadworks/? I saw a truck (opposite side of road) and then saw an object coming my way. Heard a "bonk" and checked the screen which was OK and then thought tyre / rubber chunk had come my way.

Sadly on arriving at new home the boss spotted my headlamp was smashed an the bonnet dented in two places.

Headlamp @ fiat prices = £843 + VAT. Paint Job £400 inc VAT. Lowest price I can find for this Xenon headlamp is around £681 inc VAT.

The paint job I would have covered without insurance. Also the non Xenon headlamps are about £130 inc VAT. But the Xenon headlamp has plunged the knife into my heart and wallet and the following blade twist has gutted me.

Good way to start a new life in a new home!

Won't mention the solicitor getting the property tax wrong and fleecing us for another £6800. (difference between England and Wales taxes).

Well was hoping to get my 500X back today but the wrong headlamp was ordered and the correct one is on Back Order from Italy. Who know how long that will take but the body shop think they have found the correct OEM Magnetti Marelli headlamp which (if the correct one) should arrive next week.

 

[The Panda Nut]

Waste food bin missed today - Again!
The guy walks down the road with a wheelie bin, stops at my next-door neighbour's bin and empties it into his wheelie bin. My food bin is now masked from his view by his wheelie bin. So off he goes down to the next house. Tunnel vision.
Is it so difficult to count to two? Two houses, two recycling wheelie bins, so there should be two food bins? I know that job does not require significant skill, and is probably very boring, but surely, one bin per house is not that difficult.

I called Biffa. "We may not be able to get hold of the driver until the shift returns to depot."
My answer. "As the truck driver spends most of his time staring into his phone screen, he should notice an incoming call." Long pause. "Oh, I'll pass that on to the supervisor."

We wait.

i was 16 years in the waste industry. I used to call this phenomenon 'Zombie mode' walking out in front of cars was not unknown. round here they have taken to reversing down the road for a quarter of a mile where they cant possibly see. Thats what I call moron mode and its even less excusable.