Grumble Thread

[LezLee]

I only change the clocks I can reach without a ladder. The rest I just leave till the battery goes.

[cloughie]

Not immediately. Asus tend to have a reasonable reputation for reliability. I have found Acers pretty long-lasting and robust. The laptop I use most is Lenovo but it's only around 3 years old. An Acer I bought over 10 years ago, since upgraded to Windows 10 and still accepting OS updates, has never been problematic, though I did replace the hard drive with an SSD earlier this year (not that the hard disc had failed - I still use it as an external drive). Both HP laptops I have here have exhibited various problems, from keyboard failure to poor quality audio and failure to accept Windows 10 updates. I have therefore converted them to Linux in order to get used to using it. I seem to recall Frances, 'the Member for the Isle of Man', warning agianst HP oroducts some years ago.

Thanks Bryn - I’ll ponder what to do next. No rush as I can use ipad and Desktop to do everything I need to to do at the moment, just annoying to lose the use of the laptop after a relatively short time!

[Frances_iom]

..I seem to recall Frances, 'the Member for the Isle of Man', warning against HP products some years ago.

To slightly correct both message + content - I pointed out that HP seems to run two separate lines - a business line which is generally very reliable but more expensive and a cheap consumer line that seems to be designed to last 1 day past the end of warranty (the now departed CEO took this once famous + highly respected manufacturer of electronic instruments on a downward race to the bottom) - one main problem with an earlier range was that HP were early adapters of the now required lead-free solders - unfortunately the solder that they used didn't have the same flexibility and the small but regular thermal expansion + contraction broke one or more of the solder joints between processor + mother board. One good point however is that HP machines generally have no problem running Linux.
However like Bryn I favour Lenovo especially the old classics that are still going aged 10 years or more - Linux also works very well on these and the keyboards are much pleasanter to use.

[Serial_Apologist]

Cor deary me! I've just had a helluva job accessing the BBC Sounds player. Firstly they now expected me to register, whereas previously it's always been just click on the link and be through, no trouble. I tried using the user name and the password I'd used last time and taken the trouble to enter in my address book so as not to forget it. It wouldn't accept that, saying I had to dig up my original email of application, which, naturally, I have not got. After trying to go through the steps in the procedure for half an hour, somehow (goodness knows how) I managed to get to a point where a message came up stating that I would receive an email. It arrived. It asked me to register a password. After jiggling various permutations on the original one, and being told in turn that these had all been used elsewhere to breach security, , I registered a slightly altered version, and that got me through. But what a palaver!!!

What in the name of Kafka is going on? Anyone else experienced this?

[Pulcinella]

Cor deary me! I've just had a helluva job accessing the BBC Sounds player. Firstly they now expected me to register, whereas previously it's always been just click on the link and be through, no trouble. I tried using the user name and the password I'd used last time and taken the trouble to enter in my address book so as not to forget it. It wouldn't accept that, saying I had to dig up my original email of application, which, naturally, I have not got. After trying to go through the steps in the procedure for half an hour, somehow (goodness knows how) I managed to get to a point where a message came up stating that I would receive an email. It arrived. It asked me to register a password. After jiggling various permutations on the original one, and being told in turn that these had all been used elsewhere to breach security, , I registered a slightly altered version, and that got me through. But what a palaver!!!

What in the name of Kafka is going on? Anyone else experienced this?

Sounds [sic] like the same sort of problem Draco has reported from time to time, but with several sites and apps etc.

[eighthobstruction]

Cor deary me! I've just had a helluva job accessing the BBC Sounds player. Firstly they now expected me to register, whereas previously it's always been just click on the link and be through, no trouble. I tried using the user name and the password I'd used last time and taken the trouble to enter in my address book so as not to forget it. It wouldn't accept that, saying I had to dig up my original email of application, which, naturally, I have not got. After trying to go through the steps in the procedure for half an hour, somehow (goodness knows how) I managed to get to a point where a message came up stating that I would receive an email. It arrived. It asked me to register a password. After jiggling various permutations on the original one, and being told in turn that these had all been used elsewhere to breach security, , I registered a slightly altered version, and that got me through. But what a palaver!!!

What in the name of Kafka is going on? Anyone else experienced this?

....never click any buttons adjacent to photo's of lovable David Attenborough....pass on....

[Bryn]

Sounds [sic] like the same sort of problem Draco has reported from time to time, but with several sites and apps etc.

I only very rarely listen directly to Sounds. Downloading with get_iplayer requires no login. Just copy the PID from the online schedule, paste into a saves template in the form of "get_iplayer --pid=xxxxxxxx --type=radio", replacing xxxxxxxx with the PID and paste the revised string after the prompt of get_ipleyer. Just remember, you are supposed to delete the file before the end of the 30-day availability window (get_iplyer will remind you). Plenty of help available at https://www.squarepenguin.co.uk/

[oddoneout]

With impeccable timing my freezer has finally died... It's not come as a complete surprise as it's old and I had a feeling it was struggling, and I had already started looking at suitable models to replace it, but even without the Covid complications it isn't a straightforward job. The current position isn't a good one either for convenience or the best functioning of the freezer, but the better position involves replacing a radiator and moving a kitchen cupboard. If I'm buying a new one I don't see much point in putting it in the current position only to have to get it moved later.
I'm trying to focus on the less negative aspects - it isn't a financial disaster, although an unwelcome expense after no work and no furlough for 4 months, and the more frequent shopping to cope without not being able to do batch cooking is possible as I live 10 minutes walk from the town.Nonetheless I could have done without it, as the combination of increasingly poor weather and health issues means that walks into town are not always as easy as they might be.

[Joseph K]

With impeccable timing my freezer has finally died... It's not come as a complete surprise as it's old and I had a feeling it was struggling, and I had already started looking at suitable models to replace it, but even without the Covid complications it isn't a straightforward job. The current position isn't a good one either for convenience or the best functioning of the freezer, but the better position involves replacing a radiator and moving a kitchen cupboard. If I'm buying a new one I don't see much point in putting it in the current position only to have to get it moved later.
I'm trying to focus on the less negative aspects - it isn't a financial disaster, although an unwelcome expense after no work and no furlough for 4 months, and the more frequent shopping to cope without not being able to do batch cooking is possible as I live 10 minutes walk from the town.Nonetheless I could have done without it, as the combination of increasingly poor weather and health issues means that walks into town are not always as easy as they might be.

Sorry to hear this. I hope you won't have had to get rid of too much food from your freezer - and that you can manage over the next four weeks without one...

[Stanfordian]

My grumble concerns adverts on TV and Radio that contain the sound of a door bell or a telephone ringing. I'm fed up of getting up and going to check.

[Bryn]

My grumble concerns adverts on TV and Radio that contain the sound of a door bell or a telephone ringing. I'm fed up of getting up and going to check.

Annoying, I agree. My solution was to instal a wireless system which I have set up to play a snippet from the end of Beeethoven's 5th Symphony (from a wide range of clips available). The one drawback is that it's not as loud as I'd like.

[jayne lee wilson]

My washing machine (a Bosch only three years old) died....mid-wash . Rather like toast falling butter-side down. Cue much bailing out amid wet flooring, washing wrapped up in a huge bath towel....
(ex-carers know how to cope with a mini crisis. Well at least until we don't.)....

First bookable service....December.... ....

OK - change fuse. Still dead. Plug kettle into outlet. Dead...aha!
Try machine into other outlet via long extension.... Return of The Mighty Bosch....!

So I need a electrician for the very out of the way outlet down among the slugs, not a Bosch engineer....
Lesson: never forget the basics.

What Classical Music am I listening to? Not much really. One of those weeks (again). Not sure if I'm punch-drunk or philosophical.

[johncorrigan]

My wee car has just given up the ghost. Took it to the scrappy and didn't have the right paperwork. My V5C form is missing...looks like I'm going to have to get a replacement document for twenty-five quid so that I can scrap it. Then I realised I don't have the chassis number so I'm going to have to go back to the scrappy and get that. Pain in the neck...as if it's not bad enough that my wee car is finished!

[johncorrigan]

My wee car has just given up the ghost. Took it to the scrappy and didn't have the right paperwork. My V5C form is missing...looks like I'm going to have to get a replacement document for twenty-five quid so that I can scrap it. Then I realised I don't have the chassis number so I'm going to have to go back to the scrappy and get that. Pain in the neck...as if it's not bad enough that my wee car is finished!

Lesson: don't lose documents!

[Petrushka]

My washing machine (a Bosch only three years old) died....mid-wash . Rather like toast falling butter-side down. Cue much bailing out amid wet flooring, washing wrapped up in a huge bath towel....
(ex-carers know how to cope with a mini crisis. Well at least until we don't.)....

First bookable service....December.... ....

OK - change fuse. Still dead. Plug kettle into outlet. Dead...aha!
Try machine into other outlet via long extension.... Return of The Mighty Bosch....!

So I need a electrician for the very out of the way outlet down among the slugs, not a Bosch engineer....
Lesson: never forget the basics.

What Classical Music am I listening to? Not much really. One of those weeks (again). Not sure if I'm punch-drunk or philosophical.

Wondered from your description whether a switch had been tripped on the circuit board as this is always my first thought when electrical items inexplicably turn off. Always worth checking that other items on the same circuit within your house are all on (or off) so that this can be quickly eliminated as the culprit.