What's made you grumpy today?

[jimboy]

Our wee city is dubbed roundabout town because we have more than average roundabouts. To go from one side to the other of town, less than a couple of miles, no less than thirteen round things. I've lost count how many near misses I've had over the years, people are just so selfish & only think of themselves.

Recently I was half way round a six exit one when this motorist came from my left, how I missed him I've no idea, inches to spare & of course I'm very handy with my loud horn. He followed me into the car park of a small supermarket where I was heading. Before I'd even got out of my car, this madman was shouting & swearing what was all the horn noise, I calmly pointed out that he obviously did not see me & the horn was making sure he did see me At this point I'm out of my car suggesting he should go & brush up on the highway code book.

By now other bystanders are stopping & listening in. I find it far more effective to be civil, this only adds frustration to the loud driver, I also suggested we take this to the police & pointed out I have several witnesses (not) to back up my side of things. Funny thing, he declined my offer.

I have to be careful in my line of work as a care worker & need my licence.

 

[Liquid Knight II]

Enhanced DBS checks sorted. I'm ready to start my new job? Nope my previous employer have refused all requests to give any kind of reference. :bang:

They have also failed to issue a P45 and it's eight weeks Monday. So I think a more proactive approach may be in order.

 

[varesecrazy]

That's easy for you to say. Some of us may not be able to let go that easily.

Only one car tonight, last three letters CIE. Don't think we use I, so that confirms fictitious plates for the film industry.

Well late to this.. but at least Im in the correct loation..

I recall a few years ago on 'Dogwatch'

A family had contacted the BBC..

Having watched a drama..seen a car very similar to their own recent purchase being 'badly damaged'... only to then realise the registration was the same.

No they were not in London..or Belfast.

Those 15years out plates sound daft...



Bit like the oops moment with my mums neighbour.

Same private plate on an identical looking..but 10 years newer Merc Saloon ..black.

Hope HE appreciates its £20k better ..

 

[DaveMcT]

Enhanced DBS checks sorted. I'm ready to start my new job? Nope my previous employer have refused all requests to give any kind of reference. :bang:

They have also failed to issue a P45 and it's eight weeks Monday. So I think a more proactive approach may be in order.

Talk to the new employer as it may be (your old) company policy to not give references. They do carry a liability for accuracy and you are no longer employed so why would they care? When I was a contract employee it was common to not be given references at end of contract even though for me they were especially useful.

Obviously you need to chase the P45. But, if you do manage to force some note of your usefulness from the old employer, its unlikely to be helpful and more likely to be harmful.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Cleared out my 3 half whiskey barrels, 2 long tubs by the front door, hanging basket, etc yesterday and refilled with fresh compost ready for the spring/summer bedding I'm intending to by this week. Went out this morning, whilst sipping on my first "cuppa" of the day, to find a cat - well I'm guessing it was a cat (from the droppings) - had emptied about a third of one of the tubs all over the patio, what a mess. Also something else, could be a squirrel? had been burrowing in the front tubs by the front door and again emptied a goodly quantity of compost all over the step and slabs of the drive!

Luckily it's been nice and dry so it was easy to sweep it all up and refill the containers. Now making "jaggy" deterents out of pieces of wire netting cut so there are lots of small "prickly bits" which will be sticking out when I put them in the containers. I like animals, having been brought up in the Scottish Border country with a farm next door and us having 2 large fields under cultivation. But we seem to have more than our fair share of cats around here which mess in the gardens and are an annoyance to everyone. At least the squirrels don't seem to leave smelly presents in my in my flower beds and on my lawn - although they seem to like yellow crocus bulbs?

 

[DaveMcT]

Cats like freshly tilled soil but poo on the grass is more likely fox. Try telling them to booger off.

Pet deterrent sprinklers are a harmless way to keep them all at bay. But at £20 a pop (plus hose etc) not low cost.

 

[portland_bill]

Cleared out my 3 half whiskey barrels,

I read that far and had a picture of you lying flat out, unconscious. Then it dawned you meant soil, not their original contents.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

but poo on the grass is more likely fox.

Unfortunately the poo is deposited by the cat from 2 doors up the street, I've seen it doing it. I say unfortunately because I get on quite well with the chap who lives there and I don't want to give any offence. He's a very handy chap to know as he's deeply into computers (I believe he writes security protocol stuff for Dell, whatever that is? - always buzzing off to the states for a week at a time) He's already helped me a few times with things on my laptop. Think I'm going to just live with it, it's not that often, and pursue a campaign of gentle dissuasion!

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

There was a time Bill, there was a time! now-a-days it would kill me!

 

[Liquid Knight II]

Talk to the new employer as it may be (your old) company policy to not give references. They do carry a liability for accuracy and you are no longer employed so why would they care? When I was a contract employee it was common to not be given references at end of contract even though for me they were especially useful.

Obviously you need to chase the P45. But, if you do manage to force some note of your usefulness from the old employer, its unlikely to be helpful and more likely to be harmful.

Have done and my new employers have been trying to reach them for three weeks. If they were to offer a reference now it "would not be considered credible".

I'll ask HMRC for a P45 as they have failed to issue one and suggest they do a surprise audit. :devil:

 

[DaveMcT]

Motion controlled water sprinklers will harmlessly see the cat off and any foxes that might take its place.

 

[portland_bill]

Motion controlled water sprinklers will harmlessly see the cat off and any foxes that might take its place.

And, I suppose, unwanted visitors.

 

[The Panda Nut]

Employers have a statutory duty to issue P45 and I think it sounds like they are well out of time. Speak to your tax office if a polite reminder does not get a proper response. This is unacceptable behaviour.

 

[The Panda Nut]

Nothing really..... Now that I think is a first!

mmmmm what can I get grumpy about......

 

[portland_bill]

Got an email from the county council. Or not.

Email was really just a carrier, with a link to access the email froma secure website. That requires an account with the secure site, so I'm presented with a registration form.

So I sent a rude reply to the council, telling them if they wish to communicate with me, do it properly, not play hide-and-seek with it.

 

[Eklipze3k]

Got an email from the county council. Or not.

Email was really just a carrier, with a link to access the email froma secure website. That requires an account with the secure site, so I'm presented with a registration form.

So I sent a rude reply to the council, telling them if they wish to communicate with me, do it properly, not play hide-and-seek with it.

I got this with my mortgage broker, which I can understand to an extent because there was a lot of financial information flying back and forth, except all the important documents went across 'regular' mail and almost nothing across the secure portal, so I don't really know why they bothered ...

 

[StevenRB45]

I got this with my mortgage broker, which I can understand to an extent because there was a lot of financial information flying back and forth, except all the important documents went across 'regular' mail and almost nothing across the secure portal, so I don't really know why they bothered ...

Theres an FCA requirement that anything you send out with confidential information on it has some sort of protection on it. Obviously doesn't apply if you send it to them but if they send it to you then they have to ensure that if for example a clerk transposes a number in your email address someone else doesn't get your personal details.

Sensible in theory but ridiculous in practice in my old insurance job where the majority of customers were late 50s to 80s so it always ended up being "send it to my sons email!" Or alternately a 20 minute process where you talk them through getting them...where it takes 10 minutes for their computer to start up then 5 just for their internet connection to load the website.

Usually after all this the reason they'd wanted the docs was to tax the car..at which point I'd silently face palm and put my best customer service voice on to let them know you haven't needed to do that for about 3 years.

Although I'm lucky in that I got out before dealers got rid of fax machines..these were always a good last resort if the customer was clearly unable to get the docs electronically but crucially didn't send the full docs to a third party. I was rolling out some new software the other day to people who do the same job as I used to and apparently finding a dealer with a fax now is rare..so it's an absolute faff indeed.

 

[Liquid Knight II]

Things have been getting a bit desperate due to my previous employers shenanigans. I should have started my new job three weeks ago and every hold up is money literally out of my pocket. :bang:

So desperate I considered selling my Panda Fantasia (I had to sell my GSXR250RR last month to pay the bills).

I've ended up advertising my Mito 155 instead.

I think "Justifiable Homicide" should be allowed when you advertise something for £1,500 and you get idiots offer £600 to £800...

"Cash today for it. Yeah?"

I should legally be allowed to invite them round and chop them to pieces with a machete. Doing the rest of the world a favor put them out of the misery they cause. :devil:

 

[portland_bill]

Phone battery lasting ever shorter periods. (4-5 years old)
Got a new battery. Sold as genuine, looks genuiine, has the same labels as original.
Embedded in phone, so quite a palaver to dismantle and replace.
Plugged into charger, screen pulses on and off.
Internet says this is due to battery so flat it can't take a charge. Recommend disconnect screen and leave on charge for several hours.
Partially dismantle again, disconnect screen. Reconnect charger.
8 hours later, reconnect screen, same pulsing. New battery kaput.
Refitted old battery.

Li-ion batteries will not recover if allowed to completely discharge and then left for a while. This is why when you get a new phone, it has some charge in the battery. I'd have hoped that replacement battery suppliers would ensure their stock was at least partially charged.
Tomorrow we start the process of replacement or refund.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Not so much grumpy as sad and angry. The newest arrivals in our street are a very pleasant couple who live a couple of doors up, part way round the bend, (our bit of street is on a gentle curve) on the other side of the street. They moved in just a few years ago and from time to time we talk. I'm slowly getting to know him as he too is keen on cars. I think he may have something to do with Audi. Don't know him that well yet.

Anyway he has a very nice "electric blue" A4. could be an S line maybe, not just a standard one. His wife drives one of the Q range SUVs, again a very nice car and he keeps them both sparkling. He has a foam washer and is seen most Saturday mornings detailing them, the blue one especially.

I've just sat back down from answering the door to two police detectives who informed me that both cars were stolen either last night or the night before and had I seen anyone hanging about or behaving strangely recently? I would love to be able to report on scum like this but unfortunately I saw nothing. I'm just now going to go out and fit Becky's steering wheel locking bar - which Mrs Jock has yet again "forgotten" to do. Although I don't think Becky is such a desirable target as an A4 S line? and I need to find one to fit Twinkle - our '16 Ibiza - (I haven't found one that clears her steering wheel air bag bump yet - must redouble my efforts).

Our front gardens are all open plan medium density housing and we all have good views of the fronts of gardens all up and down the street. How could they have taken both cars in plain sight. Even at night the street lighting is excellent with no dark areas. I'm not feeling particularly vulnerable, neither of our cars are "special" - except to me - and, over the years I've done a lot to make my property secure, but I'm sure a determined intruder could probably get in somehow. So I'm at Extra + + vigilance level just now.