Grumble Thread

[Serial_Apologist]

An air-fryer is a mendicant in a helicopter.

For Tuck's sake!

[french frank]

My ellectricity's just gone off. As far as I can see my neighbours are still okay. Tripped switch?

[Andrew Slater]

My ellectricity's just gone off. As far as I can see my neighbours are still okay. Tripped switch?

... or just one (or possibly two) phase(s) off. (The three phases are usually spread evenly between houses, so you and your immediate two neighbours could be all on different phases.)

[french frank]

... or just one (or possibly two) phase(s) off. (The three phases are usually spread evenly between houses, so you and your immediate two neighbours could be all on different phases.)

All back on again now*. But no heating when I got up, no internet, gas hob needed matches to light for breakfast coffee and with iPhone battery needing recharge. No landline.Talk about eggs and singular basket! Niece arrived with 2-year-old who had just been sick in the car so she handed over a large thermos flask and departed again.

That aside, I won this month's Prospect Brainteaser and received a book from Mr Rusbridger (The New Leviathans, by John Gray). I'd have preferred to have won the logical double crossword which I also completed, as that is quite testing and the Brainteaser was easy.

* I googled 'Emergency electrician Bristol' so was ripe to be scammed. Fortunately the scammers weren't on the lookout this mornig.

[Serial_Apologist]

All back on again now*. But no heating when I got up, no internet, gas hob needed matches to light for breakfast coffee and with iPhone battery needing recharge. No landline.Talk about eggs and singular basket! Niece arrived with 2-year-old who had just been sick in the car so she handed over a large thermos flask and departed again.

That aside, I won this month's Prospect Brainteaser and received a book from Mr Rusbridger (The New Leviathans, by John Gray). I'd have preferred to have won the logical double crossword which I also completed, as that is quite testing and the Brainteaser was easy.

* I googled 'Emergency electrician Bristol' so was ripe to be scammed. Fortunately the scammers weren't on the lookout this mornig.

John Gray is a miserabilist who rejects religion but, as in the case of Freud (and Jung, to a lesser degree), holds onto the Christian notion of human fallibility, so I would recommend waiting at least until all your services are satisfactorily restored before risking additional "pessimisation" - and good luck with those!

[french frank]

John Gray is a miserabilist who rejects religion but, as in the case of Freud (and Jung, to a lesser degree), holds onto the Christian notion of human fallibility, so I would recommend waiting at least until all your services are satisfactorily restored before risking additional "pessimisation" - and good luck with those!

The subtitle is: Thoughts after Liberalism. Pessimistic, probably - it's described as a rereading of Hobbes's Leviathan. It has a price tag of £20 so I can always flog it somewhere. Makes up for the £200 the emergency electrician/middleman cost. Thinks: well, not quite, maybe.

[Pulcinella]

Just applied for a GHIC (though the idea of it being global is completely risible: another Boris boast) but there seemed no easy way just to upgrade from an existing EHIC.
I gave name, address, date of birth, national insurance number, as requested, submitted the request, and back came the rather alarming message that they could not find evidence of my right to apply, so I then had to upload some documentation (passport and two utility bills; there were several other options). I'm now waiting to see if I fit the criteria. I certainly hope I do, but I have increasing distrust of computer systems holding correct personal information.

[LMcD]

Just applied for a GHIC (though the idea of it being global is completely risible: another Boris boast) but there seemed no easy way just to upgrade from an existing EHIC.
I gave name, address, date of birth, national insurance number, as requested, submitted the request, and back came the rather alarming message that they could not find evidence of my right to apply, so I then had to upload some documentation (passport and two utility bills; there were several other options). I'm now waiting to see if I fit the criteria. I certainly hope I do, but I have increasing distrust of computer systems holding correct personal information.

Pleased to say I had no problems acquiring my GHIC, although I've no idea how useful or valuable it might be, but thought 'why not?'

[teamsaint]

Just applied for a GHIC (though the idea of it being global is completely risible: another Boris boast) but there seemed no easy way just to upgrade from an existing EHIC.
I gave name, address, date of birth, national insurance number, as requested, submitted the request, and back came the rather alarming message that they could not find evidence of my right to apply, so I then had to upload some documentation (passport and two utility bills; there were several other options). I'm now waiting to see if I fit the criteria. I certainly hope I do, but I have increasing distrust of computer systems holding correct personal information.

Coincidentally I realised last night that ours were out of date. The renewal confirmation email came straight through , no extra ID or anything else required.

Hope yours is swiftly sorted.

[oddoneout]

Judging from recent exchanges in these parts I don't imagine this will be greeted with enthusiasm...

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/feb/07/sainsburys-does-not-rule-out-job-cuts-plans-use-more-robots

[Pulcinella]

Direct Line car insurance renewal letter just arrived: quote up from £249 last year to £464 this.
Needless to say, we'll be challenging it (but with no great hope of success).

In the same post was a letter from BBC MM: their costs are up too, from £32.34 for 6 issues to £43.15 for 6 issues.

Cost of living crisis? 'What cost of living crisis?' (says you know who!). We all just need to budget better, ha, ha!

[crb11]

Direct Line car insurance renewal letter just arrived: quote up from £249 last year to £464 this.
Needless to say, we'll be challenging it (but with no great hope of success).

Do you get anything better shopping around? I'd been with Hastings Direct for a few years (competitive if not always the cheapest so I let it autorenew) but was looking at a similar rise (£266 to £397) but switched to Aviva and now paying about £240.

[Pulcinella]

Do you get anything better shopping around? I'd been with Hastings Direct for a few years (competitive if not always the cheapest so I let it autorenew) but was looking at a similar rise (£266 to £397) but switched to Aviva and now paying about £240.

The trouble is that the house is also with DL, and apparently(!) we get a reduction because of that.
Starting afresh with new companies might be an endurance test too far!

Update: £407.32 negotiated and agreed, despite the original being claimed as their best price!

[Serial_Apologist]

Judging from recent exchanges in these parts I don't imagine this will be greeted with enthusiasm...
https://www.theguardian.com/business...se-more-robots

I think Sainsbury's is making a big mistake. There used to be longish queues at the nearest local branch (Upper Norwood), attention always being paid to making sure additional check outs were opened if more than four people were queuing, although naturally this became difficult to maintain in the pre-Christmas period. Then came the pandemic, but if anything this quality of service was maintained and even improved with the distancing between shoppers and directional marker tape well policed. Then self checking positions were introduced and incrementally extended to occupy the majority of the payment area with only one walk-through checkout, often no longer staffed, apart from the vapes/cigarettes/lottery counter, where no more than 5 purchases were to be permitted, ostensibly. The other nearest Sainsbury's branch (in Penge) always manages to keep at least one walk-through operating, often two. The comparative results from a customer throughput pov are, or should be instructive. The Upper Norwood branch has shed huge numbers of shoppers since the self-checking area took over nearly all of the paying area, whereas the Penge branch continues to be well attended, including by me, notwithstanding the considerable uphill trek back home. A lot of this in my view is as much down to the diminution of the staff to overseers rather than people one can exchange pleasantries with as the unreliability and unpracticality of the self-checking technology, for if one has to undergo the otherwise mind-numbing routines of supermarket shopping it can be offset by hosting a friendly atmosphere, particularly for the oldies like me making up a large proportion of shoppers - which still exists at Penge and the big branch in East Dulwich but no longer at Upper Norwood. Tescos by contrast still appears to maintain the old system of walk-through checkouts while offering self-checking as an alternative option - in this area, at least

[Old Grumpy]

Well, when it comes to customer service...

...every little helps!