What's made you grumpy today?

[StevenRB45]

That's quite understandable. I'm quite a sentimental person, and cars can be more than just the sum of their parts. 1 of the reasons I dread the day I have to part with my Grande is because of all the memories it holds.

I've got loads of photos...from it being my wedding car, both the honeymoons we went on, to it sitting in maternity parking outside the hospital the night my son came to join us, family hols, days out and a 1000 others. It's had a full life, but time let someone else have a bash.

I'll probably get something else at some point, but winters up here are very hard on old cars (and new ones). After a commute in the rain, sleet and snow and salt you can hear an old car rusting if you listen carefully. So I'll be happy not to just be watching it slowly melt.

We'll see how we manage with just the one, might car shop in spring or just enjoy having only one car to look after.

Will have to stop myself playing though...never actually owned a standard car other than the C3..so far. Did price up heated seats for it last year

 

[Cheest]

Seriously considering making life hell for our current Purchasing Agent at work. She won't follow up on an order without the CEO telling her to do it. You need to remind her several times to even put in an order. Lately, I've been doing some of the legwork because the Sales Staff, Customer Service, and customers call me because they don't get any answers from her while I can have an answer in less than 15 minutes.

Trying to get my ducks in a row with some of the senior Sales Staff to have a meeting with the CEO to fix the problem. I am going suggest canning her ample backside and rehiring the former PA we laid off before relocating and allow her to work from home as she's still in Illannoy. There was never an issue with her work. I'd turn in a requisition form to her and by the time I was back to my office, I'd have an email telling me it was on order, what the cost was, and when I could expect to receive it.

 

[jackwhoo]

Seriously considering making life hell for our current Purchasing Agent at work. She won't follow up on an order without the CEO telling her to do it. You need to remind her several times to even put in an order. Lately, I've been doing some of the legwork because the Sales Staff, Customer Service, and customers call me because they don't get any answers from her while I can have an answer in less than 15 minutes.

Trying to get my ducks in a row with some of the senior Sales Staff to have a meeting with the CEO to fix the problem. I am going suggest canning her ample backside and rehiring the former PA we laid off before relocating and allow her to work from home as she's still in Illannoy. There was never an issue with her work. I'd turn in a requisition form to her and by the time I was back to my office, I'd have an email telling me it was on order, what the cost was, and when I could expect to receive it.

Maybe she hates being there and you could be doing her a favour by helping her move on to something that suits her skill set better.
Everyone Would be happier. Win win

 

[Cheest]

Maybe she hates being there and you could be doing her a favour by helping her move on to something that suits her skill set better.
Everyone Would be happier. Win win

Who knows? I was just copied on another email from the CEO for an answer to what he asked on Monday.

She must like something about being there and I think it's because that she and most others in that asylum are not held accountable for their actions. I've also been told she's a diva and treats other there like sh!*. Apparently, she just bought a big Mercedes. That doesn't bother me, but has frosted a lot of other people. I figure if she does get axed, she's the one that has to figure out how to make the payments.

Start time is 8am. Most days she strolls in after 9, carrying two bags of McDonald's. I can't really blame her there as many of the managers get away with the same thing. Still, In my book, that sets a bad example. The CS supervisor, on the other hand, is at her desk at 7am and is still there at 8pm. She also takes responsibility for her and her staffs errors. And gets them fixed. She's hardest on herself.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

just a thought paj its the outside lamp thats not working . ask all the neighbours round . all start clapping , many hands make LIGHT work whoops

'fraid the clapping didn't work!

Didn't get a chance to look at this yesterday because Mrs J wanted to go "across the water" to Kirckaldy up in Fife to buy a heatproof tablecloth in preparation for Christmas which was only available at the Kirckaldy branch of Dunelm. I wasn't all that enthusiastic but the weather was good and we took the scenic coast road after crossing the Forth via the new road bridge - which in itself is a pretty spectacular sight - and had a very pleasant drive indeed.

So, this morning I removed the tubes and dropped the cover off the batten to check for electric supply, and there it was, full mains voltage showing on my multimeter. The light failed as I switched it on with a loud "pop" so when I removed the batten from the ceiling and levered the cover off the ballast unit I wasn't at all surprised to see a "fat" capacitor alongside an identical "thin" one. The fat one obviously blown - Laurel and Hardy came to mind?

I know you can buy component parts for fluorescent tube battens but decided to bin it and try one of the new LED types. I bought one of these: https://www.xciteledlighting.co.uk/products/batten/ Very sleek looking compared to the old twin tube fluorescent it replaced. It lights virtually instantaneously and is up to full brilliance immediately. I still have a twin tube fluorescent at the other end of the workshop and it's immediately apparent how long it takes to light off by comparison. Also very obvious is how much less bright the old tubes are for at least around the first four or five minutes during which luminance gradually increases, but it never gets as bright as the new LED light (the old tubes are/were Cool White.) I'm very pleased indeed with my new LED light batten and will replace the one at the other end of the 'shop with another either when it fails or maybe before if I can justify spending the money. Talking of money, these are more expensive than the old fluorescent type, but I'm assured they will last much longer. If/when one fails you ditch the whole thing and fit a new one. You can't replace just the light unit. I've been looking at what they cost on line and I seem to have paid about £5.00 more by buying from my local electrical factor. However, as he's only about five minutes away in the car, I'm not too upset considering how convenient that is. I was also a little unsure as to what I needed to buy so being able to discuss it with him was enormously helpful. Knowing what I now know I might be tempted to buy on line next time especially now knowing that these units are much more robust than an old type fluorescent tube and would probably be difficult to damage during shipping.

So if anyone is considering going for one of these I can thoroughly recommend it. The fitting - fixing the unit to the ceiling and making the electrical connections - is just like the fluorescent units and swapping it over was pretty simple.

 

[portland_bill]

So if anyone is considering going for one of these I can thoroughly recommend it. The fitting - fixing the unit to the ceiling and making the electrical connections - is just like the fluorescent units and swapping it over was pretty simple.

I have a flourescent light in the kitchen and bathroom (nice to see what you are doing), plus one in the garage. All have the mains input at the centre.

I bought an early LED unit from B&Q a few years ago, and its mains input was near one end, which was no good to me. Not about to make new holes in the kitchen ceiling and try to fish the cable through. Returned for a refund, and got a new tube for the exisiting old scabby unit.

I've occasionally looked at others, but not found one yet with a centre mains input. How was yours?

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

'morning PB, hope all is well with you and yours?

The new batten is now securely fitted to the ceiling of the garage so you'll understand I'm reluctant to now "fiddle" with it.



However the old fitting is lying in my trailer and I used the same same fixing holes in the ceiling to secure the new batten as had been used for the old one. So if you look at this, which is the backside of the old batten:





You can see there are 3 possible cable entry points the two outer ones are definitely identical to the new LED batten as that's where I picked up the fixings and I also used one of those holes to feed the wire in. I'm not so sure about the centre hole but I think it was there too.

Things are made a little more easy for me as, being my workshop/garage the wire is surface mounted with clips holding it to the ceiling so easy for me to reroute. However, as you found, the cable termination block is at one end whereas the old fluorescent fitting had it's terminal block in the middle. In fact, because it has a "push out" plug at the end I'm going to buy a plastic bush, shorten the cable and reroute the cable directly into the end of the unit. I think I'll also install some plastic trunking just to neaten it all up and add some extra protection to the wire. I suspect having the terminal block at the end of the unit is now the way they are doing them all?

 

[jimboy]

Believe it or not, I have a fluorescent tube light in my shed which is still working over 40 year old, I also have one of those infrared large heat bulbs still working nearly 50 years old, but I don’t use it regularly.

 

[Cheest]

I have 8 four tube fluorescent fixtures in my garage. If it wasn't for the fact that previous owner left behind several boxes of tubes, they'd be LED already. OTOH, we've lived here two years now and I have yet to replace a tube. That was a yearly chore at my last place until I went with LED track lights.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Talking about longevity, We bought a Burco Tumbleair dryer:



when our first child arrived - so over 50 years ago. It survived not only him but also both his sister and younger brother. It's also seen intermittent heavy use with 5 grandchildren and is still going strong to this day, even the "high heat" selection works. It's very simple to use with just a twist - clockwork - timer on the right and a 2 heat selection switch on the left. It has also survived 3 house moves too. I've never even had to tighten up a single screw on it although it does sound a bit like a cement mixer when working these days and it's better not to glance at the electricity meter when it's on high heat!

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

sorry, forgot to include the picture of the Tumbleair

 

[pooroldcodger]

That is from the era when buying an appliance like that was a major investment and it was expected to last. Compared with what you paid for that the new ones are so cheap, but also with so many plastic parts not likely to last very long.
We had a tumble dryer a few years ago that after 2 years the push buttons failed. It was out of warranty. I took the panel off and discovered that behind the push buttons were thin plastic spars that made contact with a micro switch. Thge most commonly used one had simply broken off rendering the whole thing inoperative.
I did manage to find a suitable part that would fix it but how pathetic is that?

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

I inherited my grandparents fridge freezer. Found the receipt, purchased in 1993. Worked out the amount of electric it uses and a new one would pay for itself in circa 4 years with the consumption difference, but I suspect would then need replacing every 8-10 years!

I’ve now got solar panels, so the consumption isn’t as much of an issue, certainly during the warmer summer months when it’s sunnier

 

[portland_bill]

Welcome to autumn, and morning fog. It was quite thick this morning, as I went out early to shop before the hordes.

A rough calculation, I'd say only 25% had headlamps on, and 25% no lights at all. The rest had either daytimes, or sidelamps. One reason is automatic headlamps, that don't respond to daytime fog, as if they did, lights would be on most of the time. Drivers have abdicated responsibility. Then there are the daytimes, so many not realising that the lights are front only on the vast majority, and despite being brighter than sidelamps, are still not as good as headlamps. Then the worst, are the sidelamp brigade. In many cases, they've added rear lamps, whilst at the same time reduced the intensity of the front lamps. Still living in the days of dynamos and batteries going flat if driven in town with headlamps.

Most of the time, you will see a car before you realise it has sidelamps on. Why do they all carry on, not realising that they cannot see others, so they cannot be seen.

Then the cyclists. One wearing white, appeared from the fog, facing me, so not on my side of the road, no lights, front or rear. Moments later an oncoming car appeared, quite quickly. Hopefully he saw the cycle before hitting it. Then the next, displaying lights, but seriously in need of new batteries. Why is it entirely the drivers' responsibility to not kill these people. Then, the idiot jogger, hi-vis does not work well in fog, and as I braked, downhill, he continued jogging at me. If I can stop in the distance I can see to be clear, he might get hurt as he shortens that distance after I've seen him. All of these, on a narrow country road, with quick traffic, and only banks not verges. It is about choices, and consequences.

More fog between the ears than in the air.

 

[The Panda Nut]

I'd say only 25% had headlamps on, and 25% no lights at all.

Heaven preserve us that the Police should actually do something useful and get out there on such matters. This is certainly something that should get points on licences!

 

[The Panda Nut]

Talking about longevity, We bought a Burco Tumbleair dryer:



when our first child arrived - so over 50 years ago. It survived not only him but also both his sister and younger brother. It's also seen intermittent heavy use with 5 grandchildren and is still going strong to this day, even the "high heat" selection works. It's very simple to use with just a twist - clockwork - timer on the right and a 2 heat selection switch on the left. It has also survived 3 house moves too. I've never even had to tighten up a single screw on it although it does sound a bit like a cement mixer when working these days and it's better not to glance at the electricity meter when it's on high heat!

My Mum had one just the same which we took over after it was about 40 years old. We had it for 10 or 12 years. Eventually we moved and couldn't fit it into our tiny kitchen so it was scrapped. It was still fully working though. I still remember it affectionately.

 

[The Panda Nut]

OK so the daddy of long life stories. When brush cutters were invented... there was one supplier Paice of Maidstone and they called them Paicesetter brushcutters. Dad bought one of the first batch imported a Xenoah which I suspect was made by Mitsubishi. Its still working today and celebrates its 50th birthday next year. It still goes pretty nearly first pull, of its original starter cord and has only had a few gaskets and diaphragms and a fuel tap / off switch that I broke by dropping it. The local firm wont give anything in PX for a new one so I shall brave the noise and vibration for the little I use it. I can't see why it shouldn't have many more years of life. When new it was in use for at least 6 hours a week and did blade work, strimming with line, sweeping and hedge cutting. Must be the cheapest machine to own and run ever.

 

[jimboy]

Not had much to moan about of late but there have been cases of motorists in front of me approaching a roundabout or junction where they are in the middle of lanes, not in one or the other, no indication either. Frustrating when you’re turning the opposite direction and you could go but it’s not an option because selfish driver in front is hogging both lanes. I seem to encounter this quite often at the moment.

 

[StevenRB45]

Welcome to autumn, and morning fog. It was quite thick this morning, as I went out early to shop before the hordes.

A rough calculation, I'd say only 25% had headlamps on, and 25% no lights at all. The rest had either daytimes, or sidelamps. One reason is automatic headlamps, that don't respond to daytime fog, as if they did, lights would be on most of the time. Drivers have abdicated responsibility. Then there are the daytimes, so many not realising that the lights are front only on the vast majority, and despite being brighter than sidelamps, are still not as good as headlamps. Then the worst, are the sidelamp brigade. In many cases, they've added rear lamps, whilst at the same time reduced the intensity of the front lamps. Still living in the days of dynamos and batteries going flat if driven in town with headlamps.

Most of the time, you will see a car before you realise it has sidelamps on. Why do they all carry on, not realising that they cannot see others, so they cannot be seen.

Auto headlamps never operate on sidelights...so the reason for those is stupidity.

But yeah annoying...mainly as DRLs are basically styling lights. If it was about safety they'd be on the back as well.

I'm loathe to go too hard on auto lights...as I distinctly remember my wife telling me she managed to get 50% of the way back from work in her micra at the end of a night shift at 3am and only realised she was driving with no lights when she got to the country road leading to ours was plunged into absolute darkness.

When you're dealing with that level of awareness...the chances they'd switch the lights on for fog are pretty low.

At least I got one of the few cars that has rear DRLs on it, if the engines on, the rear lights are on so if the auto doesn't catch the fog the car will still be lit both ends.

Every year I show her how to operate the damned fog lights.

I suppose at least unlike most VW group products it has a tell tale for the lights on the rev counter..so if you ever look at the rev counter you know what it's doing.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

More fog between the ears than in the air.

Had a good example of this last Tuesday. We were out south of the city childminding at my youngest boy's house. Rained pretty much all day and still raining when we left to go home.

So, up to the top of the hill and onto the main road which leads past the filling station. Building up to 30mph, which is the limit here, with a large SUV trying to "push" me to go faster, when suddenly realize that what looks at first like just a very wet area of road surface is actually a very large area of flooding covering most of my side of the road. I braked quite firmly, not what you'd call emergency braking though, and was very nearly rear ended by the SUV who was obviously not expecting me to slow on this bit of straight road and had been caught out because they were following far to close. Must have been within a foot of my rear bumper before getting themselves properly under control again, thank goodness for ABS?

Thankfully no harm done, except perhaps the driver needing a change of underclothes, but all could have been easily avoided by following the "only a fool" rule. Glad I slowed though, the water was almost up to the wheel hubs!