What's made you grumpy today?

[The Panda Nut]

Unhindered through airport scanners? Nope! You'll have to take the knees too if I'm to get through them without them going bleep! Could be difficult with no knees and only one hip though?

You think he will leave the knees? Not knowing which leg means to be safe he must take them both out at the top and (if you excuse the sad pun) leg it. lol SO keep moving or become known as stumpy!!

 

[bugsymike]

Moral of the story is never let anyone else tighten your nuts... as the actrss said to the bishop.

The last time I did it wasat a Vauxhall dealer. As it was a Vauxhall leasing company car under warranty I use the wheel brace from the car and wound it round and round untill it was just a few mm thick, the nut stayed stationary. I returned it too them and demanded a replacement. A few other words were said about their skills. Thankfully we remained on speaking terms and they were good as gold thereafter. Pretty nasic stuff tightening wheel nuts properly to proper engineers. (Not saying I am one though. I am just an ameter)

This was at tyre "specialists" where NHS contracted for tyres?

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Some other "grumps" today:

Whilst out on my walk this morning saw a man in very large SUV, doing about 30mph in heavy traffic with head down looking in his lap obviously texting. He did this as he was approaching me and continued to do it as he passed - Utter insanity. He was only getting away with it because the traffic speed was constant.

My next door neighbour has a good friend who works in home security and has been installing a "super dooper" burglar alarm and security system in his house. It's been operational for about the last month. Today his wife was in their front garden as we got back from the supermarket and started to unload our car (Becky the Panda of course) Their cameras recorded a hooded figure wandering around their back garden at about 3.30 in the morning before trying, unsuccessfully, to break into his garden room and then shambling off back into the road and out to the main drag. So much for security cameras though, the man's hoodie hid his face and the police gave them an incident number but otherwise seemed uninterested. I don't know what they could do with that little information?

And, lastly, I want on my laptop to check if there had been any communications from the solicitor and found, what purported to be, an email from Paypal. I do use paypal from time to time but haven't bought anything through them for a wee while so was suspicious. It looked like Paypal except it talked about an "E reciept" and I've not seen that from them before. So I went into my Paypal account and there is no recent activity recorded. Then I rang my credit card company fraud line and they confirmed no action on the relevant credit card and then asked a lot of other questions - I was very impressed. Anyway, looking at this email and in light of what the fraud team told me, there is an attachment which the email says is a copy of the receipt for what I've bought. I know not to open attachments you're not sure of so I didn't open it and rang the bank fraud squad instead. They told me that, most likely, if I'd opened it I'd have downloaded something "nasty" onto my laptop! This is the first time I've come across something like this and it would have been oh so easy just to have opened it. I can easily understand how "silly old pharts" like me get duped into it! I've initiated a scan for viruses but the machine is still working on it so I don't know the outcome yet - The fraud guys tell me I'll likely be fine as I didn't open it.

 

[PuntoHowTo]

Some other "grumps" today:

Whilst out on my walk this morning saw a man in very large SUV, doing about 30mph in heavy traffic with head down looking in his lap obviously texting. He did this as he was approaching me and continued to do it as he passed - Utter insanity. He was only getting away with it because the traffic speed was constant.

My next door neighbour has a good friend who works in home security and has been installing a "super dooper" burglar alarm and security system in his house. It's been operational for about the last month. Today his wife was in their front garden as we got back from the supermarket and started to unload our car (Becky the Panda of course) Their cameras recorded a hooded figure wandering around their back garden at about 3.30 in the morning before trying, unsuccessfully, to break into his garden room and then shambling off back into the road and out to the main drag. So much for security cameras though, the man's hoodie hid his face and the police gave them an incident number but otherwise seemed uninterested. I don't know what they could do with that little information?

And, lastly, I want on my laptop to check if there had been any communications from the solicitor and found, what purported to be, an email from Paypal. I do use paypal from time to time but haven't bought anything through them for a wee while so was suspicious. It looked like Paypal except it talked about an "E reciept" and I've not seen that from them before. So I went into my Paypal account and there is no recent activity recorded. Then I rang my credit card company fraud line and they confirmed no action on the relevant credit card and then asked a lot of other questions - I was very impressed. Anyway, looking at this email and in light of what the fraud team told me, there is an attachment which the email says is a copy of the receipt for what I've bought. I know not to open attachments you're not sure of so I didn't open it and rang the bank fraud squad instead. They told me that, most likely, if I'd opened it I'd have downloaded something "nasty" onto my laptop! This is the first time I've come across something like this and it would have been oh so easy just to have opened it. I can easily understand how "silly old pharts" like me get duped into it! I've initiated a scan for viruses but the machine is still working on it so I don't know the outcome yet - The fraud guys tell me I'll likely be fine as I didn't open it.

First thing you should always check is the email address it was sent from, often it is hidden because it will just say “PayPal” but often if you hover over it or right click on it (on things like outlook) it will show you the full email address which can be a mass of numbers and letters, or [email protected] if it is anything other than PayPal.com on the end or say it’s a bank and it’s something other than lloyds.com or Barclays.com then it’s probably a scam/phishing email. I’m constantly bombarded with scam emails from people trying to get me to give up information the often most common way of doing things is to say, check your account by following this link, then it takes you to a page that looks like your bank but is not, you try to log in, it fails and forwards you to the proper bank log in page so when you try again it does log you in, but by that time you’ve already given them your log in details.

 

[bugsymike]

First thing you should always check is the email address it was sent from, often it is hidden because it will just say “PayPal” but often if you hover over it or right click on it (on things like outlook) it will show you the full email address which can be a mass of numbers and letters, or [email protected] if it is anything other than PayPal.com on the end or say it’s a bank and it’s something other than lloyds.com or Barclays.com then it’s probably a scam/phishing email. I’m constantly bombarded with scam emails from people trying to get me to give up information the often most common way of doing things is to say, check your account by following this link, then it takes you to a page that looks like your bank but is not, you try to log in, it fails and forwards you to the proper bank log in page so when you try again it does log you in, but by that time you’ve already given them your log in details.

I believe with all the modern technology GCHQ , the phone and internet companies have , they could trace and shut them down.
It would save the whole Country many millions and the stress caused, even without all the wasted time dealing with it.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

I believe with all the modern technology GCHQ , the phone and internet companies have , they could trace and shut them down.
It would save the whole Country many millions and the stress caused, even without all the wasted time dealing with it.

My feelings exactly Mike. There's just so much about all this "tech" which is attractive for the big organizations - Banks, government departments, and many more and they are all rushing ahead into making it the only option. Trouble is there are shed loads of people who really only have basic ability to use it so are open to being scammed or worse. Also there are substantial numbers of folk who just don't have a scoobie what they are doing with computers and other "tech". A case in point is when dealing with the folk who control benefits. You've got to do pretty much all of it via the internet and people in dire straights often have neither easy access to or the knowledge how to use it. Another example is old people - like me - who have never had any instruction in use of modern devices and just "muddle along" - for instance my laptop keeps telling me I have apps that require updating for security reasons. I know my windows stuff automatically updates but this must be something different and I've no idea what to do about it. There's been a lot of stuff on the news of late about older people who are not claiming pension credits - which are a "gatekeeper" to other benefits. I just can't understand why the government department concerned doesn't just contact these people - they must know who they are as they know all about us - and ensure they get what they are due? It's the same with some benefits. They keep on saying that many eligible people are not claiming but I believe this is because so many of the people who qualify are semi literate and can't use the systems or navigate the, some times horrendously complex, obstacles. Some of the documents are pages long.

I feel also we are jumping into the fire with all this stuff because, although it makes it easier for the organizations it also very nicely puts vast amounts of information about people all in one place so the "baddies" can have a field day with it. Security is obviously not keeping up with the baddies and it's putting us all at risk of being completely wiped out in a way which has been impossible until all this computery stuff was adopted.

There's been one wee beacon of light for us recently though. We were very worried about what we were going to do when the last local branch of our bank closes down. we don't do internet banking, don't have smart phones etc. We were up at the main office to sort out some of our savings to pay for my hip and mentioned this to the "meeter and greeter" at the desk and she said we should ring their "over 60" telephone service. Didn't even know such a thing existed but we did so and are now enrolled to do "telephone banking" via their over 60 telephone service. It's lovely. Yes there are passwords and other "stuff" to remember but, once you get through that you are speaking to a "real person" who has obviously been trained to help "doddery" old folk and it's just like being in the bank talking to a teller or other person. So far we've managed to do all the usual stuff, like paying money to people, direct debts, etc and if we need actual cash we can get it at the post office. It seems to be the answer for us.

 

[bugsymike]

My feelings exactly Mike. There's just so much about all this "tech" which is attractive for the big organizations - Banks, government departments, and many more and they are all rushing ahead into making it the only option. Trouble is there are shed loads of people who really only have basic ability to use it so are open to being scammed or worse. Also there are substantial numbers of folk who just don't have a scoobie what they are doing with computers and other "tech". A case in point is when dealing with the folk who control benefits. You've got to do pretty much all of it via the internet and people in dire straights often have neither easy access to or the knowledge how to use it. Another example is old people - like me - who have never had any instruction in use of modern devices and just "muddle along" - for instance my laptop keeps telling me I have apps that require updating for security reasons. I know my windows stuff automatically updates but this must be something different and I've no idea what to do about it. There's been a lot of stuff on the news of late about older people who are not claiming pension credits - which are a "gatekeeper" to other benefits. I just can't understand why the government department concerned doesn't just contact these people - they must know who they are as they know all about us - and ensure they get what they are due? It's the same with some benefits. They keep on saying that many eligible people are not claiming but I believe this is because so many of the people who qualify are semi literate and can't use the systems or navigate the, some times horrendously complex, obstacles. Some of the documents are pages long.

I feel also we are jumping into the fire with all this stuff because, although it makes it easier for the organizations it also very nicely puts vast amounts of information about people all in one place so the "baddies" can have a field day with it. Security is obviously not keeping up with the baddies and it's putting us all at risk of being completely wiped out in a way which has been impossible until all this computery stuff was adopted.

There's been one wee beacon of light for us recently though. We were very worried about what we were going to do when the last local branch of our bank closes down. we don't do internet banking, don't have smart phones etc. We were up at the main office to sort out some of our savings to pay for my hip and mentioned this to the "meeter and greeter" at the desk and she said we should ring their "over 60" telephone service. Didn't even know such a thing existed but we did so and are now enrolled to do "telephone banking" via their over 60 telephone service. It's lovely. Yes there are passwords and other "stuff" to remember but, once you get through that you are speaking to a "real person" who has obviously been trained to help "doddery" old folk and it's just like being in the bank talking to a teller or other person. So far we've managed to do all the usual stuff, like paying money to people, direct debts, etc and if we need actual cash we can get it at the post office. It seems to be the answer for us.

I agree, basically the Government and big business don't give a 4X about the public , it is all about max. profit for minimal outlay. When banks were on every High St. and all tellers were working hard, those banks were all making massive profits without going on line, they use the excuse that everyone is shopping online since Covid.
My local bank closed and said we could use the main post office next door, now they want to close that as well.
I don't think the youngsters are any more immune to scams, they just don't check where their money is going as much as us old folk and do not study their bank statements etc.

 

[portland_bill]

Tyre places around here some years ago started using torque wrenches when Bedford ambulances were having wheels falling off, but I think they have given up on that practice these days.

Ah, Bedford ambulances.
We had, for a time, an old CA, ex-ambulance, converted into a camper. 1508cc of sheer power, and a 3-speed gearbox. Went nowhere in a hurry. Sedate, it was.
They were replaced by the CF. The first ones in Weymouth were 1600cc petrol, automatics, 55mph flat out. They'd sit along the causeway to Portland, topped out at 55mph, lights on, two-tone horns blaring, being overtaken by everyone, continuing at the 60 limit. Silly days. Later replaced with 2300cc models, that actually moved adequately.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Ah, Bedford ambulances.
We had, for a time, an old CA, ex-ambulance, converted into a camper. 1508cc of sheer power, and a 3-speed gearbox. Went nowhere in a hurry. Sedate, it was.
They were replaced by the CF. The first ones in Weymouth were 1600cc petrol, automatics, 55mph flat out. They'd sit along the causeway to Portland, topped out at 55mph, lights on, two-tone horns blaring, being overtaken by everyone, continuing at the 60 limit. Silly days. Later replaced with 2300cc models, that actually moved adequately.

Ah, the CF Bedford "featuring" the Vauxhall slant 4 engine (as commonly found in the Victor amongst others) Although a BL dealer, being a small country garage, our boss would take in anything he thought we could make money on, and so it was that a CF came into my life. It had been given to the apprentice - who by then had been with us for several years and was actually pretty useful. He was trying to remove the spark plugs. For those not familiar with this engine it was an OHC canted over towards the N/S so the plugs were well hidden and somewhat obstructed by the exhaust manifold. The rearmost plug was also even more difficult to reach as it was partially under the bulkhead. Not easy to get at. Not only that but they were one of the early adopters of taper seat plugs and they were the smaller size too (12mm?) due to them having no crush washers it was very common to find them over tightened and this was what the unfortunate apprentice was faced with. By the time he turned to me he'd snapped two off leaving the threaded portions in the head. The foreman asked me to sort it out and I did get one out using a square section eezy out but the other wasn't for moving. The two remaining ones were obviously going to break too. In the end the boss decided to remove the head and take it round the corner to the local engineering company. Although I got to strip it down the reassembly was given to another of the lads as I was in the middle of doing an Austin Princess automatic box - Basically a Borg Warner but in the sump and running on it's own ATF - not engine oil as did the Manual box. We very rarely saw Vauxhalls in the workshop as there was a local garage which specialized in them and I can't say I felt I missed anything.

That engine also had it's oil pump very high up on the side of the block, under the distributor, so had a long way to suck the oil up from the sump before the pump could get hold of it. When they got older/higher mileage the oil would drain back into the sump over night and when you started them in the morning there would be a "deathly" big end rattle for a few seconds before the pump pressurized the oil and sent it round the engine. I was not particularly impressed by the number of them I heard doing this and I remember being very surprised when Lotus chose that block as the basis for one of their road car engines. I think they modified it extensively though, not least being that they cast the blocks in Ally, not cast iron as the Vauxhall production engine was.

 

[bugsymike]

Ah, Bedford ambulances.
We had, for a time, an old CA, ex-ambulance, converted into a camper. 1508cc of sheer power, and a 3-speed gearbox. Went nowhere in a hurry. Sedate, it was.
They were replaced by the CF. The first ones in Weymouth were 1600cc petrol, automatics, 55mph flat out. They'd sit along the causeway to Portland, topped out at 55mph, lights on, two-tone horns blaring, being overtaken by everyone, continuing at the 60 limit. Silly days. Later replaced with 2300cc models, that actually moved adequately.

I had a Bedford CF Crew bus with the Perkins 4/108 diesel and wooden bench seats along the sides, I seem to recall wife feeding one of the youngsters whilst sliding along the seats.
Fuel was good around 38 mpg , but top speed was around the 65 mph roughly.
I had the same engine in a Mk1 Ford Transit.
The first 1508cc petrol Vauxhall I owned was a really clean 1959 Vauxhall Victor FA I got as a cheap part /ex a salesman offered to me. Later on I had a Victor FC a £20 Mot failure that only needed a small patch welding.
Another Bedford CA a crewbus, when I was an apprentice around 1970, we had to recover as they had flipped it in the lanes, so as usual this meant dragging the vehicle on it's side far enough to a wider section where enough room to right it, so they could continue on their way believe it or not!
The biggest mess was the large mix of wet plaster they had been taking to the site.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

I had a Bedford CF Crew bus with the Perkins 4/108 diesel and wooden bench seats along the sides, I seem to recall wife feeding one of the youngsters whilst sliding along the seats.
Fuel was good around 38 mpg , but top speed was around the 65 mph roughly.
I had the same engine in a Mk1 Ford Transit.
The first 1508cc petrol Vauxhall I owned was a really clean 1959 Vauxhall Victor FA I got as a cheap part /ex a salesman offered to me. Later on I had a Victor FC a £20 Mot failure that only needed a small patch welding.
Another Bedford CA a crewbus, when I was an apprentice around 1970, we had to recover as they had flipped it in the lanes, so as usual this meant dragging the vehicle on it's side far enough to a wider section where enough room to right it, so they could continue on their way believe it or not!
The biggest mess was the large mix of wet plaster they had been taking to the site.

I think I only ever drove a CA once and my abiding memory is that the column mounted gearchange was even worse than stirring the proverbial bowl of porridge!

 

[bugsymike]

I think I only ever drove a CA once and my abiding memory is that the column mounted gearchange was even worse than stirring the proverbial bowl of porridge!

Many of the vehicles I drove as an apprentice were column change so used to it, the three speed Ford 400E vans and pick ups used to jam for a past time , so it was common to jump underneath and wriggle the linkages back into neutral.
When all the gardeners and builders came to afford second hand Mk1 Ford Transits it was fantastic luxury.
Although I seem to recall carbs firing back into the air cleaners and some catching fire on the V4s, the trick when starting and revving with air cleaner off and seeing flames was take you foot off the throttle and keep cranking so it sucked the flames back inside. Honestly that worked.

 

[Steveetee55]

My mums cancer treatment has stopped working, I knew it would eventually get her, cancer is one of mother nature's F ups, cruel bloody disease so this Christmas will be very special this year I won't be my usual barr humbug self for a change

 

[bugsymike]

My mums cancer treatment has stopped working, I knew it would eventually get her, cancer is one of mother nature's F ups, cruel bloody disease so this Christmas will be very special this year I won't be my usual barr humbug self for a change

It got both my parents and was two years of pain for them, my mum had to inject my dad with the morphine back in the 60s when I was 8, at least when my mum was towards the end she got better pain relief. It is a sh*t , sorry to hear .

 

[Steveetee55]

It got both my parents and was two years of pain for them, my mum had to inject my dad with the morphine back in the 60s when I was 8, at least when my mum was towards the end she got better pain relief. It is a sh*t , sorry to hear .

She's on morphine my dads taking care of her, trouble is I live 200 miles from them and with work commitments I get limited time to see them as you say it's ****

 

[irc]

I remember being very surprised when Lotus chose that block as the basis for one of their road car engines. I think they modified it extensively though, not least being that they cast the blocks in Ally, not cast iron as the Vauxhall production engine was.

Yep.
First appeared in the Jensen Healey, before the Eclat, Excel and Esprit, getting various upgrades over the years.
In true Lotus fashion, one of the early engine test mules was a Bedford CF van, which was tonked around the country at surprising speeds for some months for durability testing.
It was long before my time there, but I got to see the van slowly decomposing, along with Colin Chapman's Haflinger and various other interesting stuff, before it all disappeared.
I did meet one of the guys who was regularly sent out with the van, and heard many tales of disbelieving policemen letting him off with a puzzled frown as they couldn't believe it had taken so long to pull him over.
Simpler times back then.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

My mums cancer treatment has stopped working, I knew it would eventually get her, cancer is one of mother nature's F ups, cruel bloody disease so this Christmas will be very special this year I won't be my usual barr humbug self for a change

I'm so sorry to hear that - I'll be thinking of you over the Christmas period. Pancreatic cancer took my youngest brother long before his time and it's a particularly nasty one. My other brother died peacefully in his bed last November of a heart attack but he also had advanced prostate cancer so probably a blessing he died the way he did. Just my sister and me left now, I'm the oldest, then my sister then middle brother and then youngest. It's all going the "wrong" way in that the youngest has died first then the next youngest - I was expecting it'd be me who went first. Life's a "funny" old game as they say.

Again, so sorry to hear about your Mum, feel free to PM me if you think I can cheer you up in any way.

 

[Steveetee55]

I'm so sorry to hear that - I'll be thinking of you over the Christmas period. Pancreatic cancer took my youngest brother long before his time and it's a particularly nasty one. My other brother died peacefully in his bed last November of a heart attack but he also had advanced prostate cancer so probably a blessing he died the way he did. Just my sister and me left now, I'm the oldest, then my sister then middle brother and then youngest. It's all going the "wrong" way in that the youngest has died first then the next youngest - I was expecting it'd be me who went first. Life's a "funny" old game as they say.

Again, so sorry to hear about your Mum, feel free to PM me if you think I can cheer you up in any way.

Thank you for your kind words I will, I'm OK at the moment just it was a shock being told, we're a very close family and we lost my younger brother to suicide a few years ago and my mum has never really got over that

 

[The Panda Nut]

Ah, Bedford ambulances.
We had, for a time, an old CA, ex-ambulance, converted into a camper. 1508cc of sheer power, and a 3-speed gearbox. Went nowhere in a hurry. Sedate, it was.
They were replaced by the CF. The first ones in Weymouth were 1600cc petrol, automatics, 55mph flat out. They'd sit along the causeway to Portland, topped out at 55mph, lights on, two-tone horns blaring, being overtaken by everyone, continuing at the 60 limit. Silly days. Later replaced with 2300cc models, that actually moved adequately.

This brings back memories. We had a couple of CF vans on the Kent County Council with the 3 speed. I so nearly ploughed backwards into a posh looking car at the traffic lights ... Exhuberance of youth! Fortunately I also had the reactions of youth and stopped before I go them. As you can imagine the driver was neither happy or composed. Its hard to be effectively angry when you are in shock and white as a sheet! 50 years ago now. It was odd that the three gears seemed quite adequate. I dont remember them being low geared or having torque holes between gears.

 

[portland_bill]

A few years back, boyfriend of woman next door removed the line of leylandii trees between us, and replaced with a 3' high fence. All discussed and agreed beforehand. Fence was adequate, but not well put together.
He left a while ago. Now a week or so ago, the fence started to lean a little at one post, and this weekend's wind now has it swinging back and forth. It will probably break before the wind abates, and I cannot see her next door doing anything about it.
Meanwhile, I've had to put the Doblo out on the road, to avoid it becoming a victim. Then next week, will need to organise a friend to come and replace the post.