Rant of the Day v2.

[G-CPTN]

Picture an AA man in uniform (complete with gaiters) driving a yellow SWB Land Rover to guide you through London traffic - they would even hook-up your caravan to their LR and tow it ahead of you.
Kids of today wouldn't believe it.

[OFSO]

Caravan? You were lucky. We made do with a cardboard box under Eastbourne pier for the two days we got off work.

[Rwy in Sight]

You are right about the PN but you have the gadget use it to make our lives better.
Boac the guy who prompted my rant was at this 40's

[Boac]

Caravan? You were lucky. We made do with a cardboard box under Eastbourne pier for the two days we got off work.

-huh - you were LUCKY - we never even got a box.TWO DAYS off work!!???

[Capetonian]

Careful guys we'll have Kak n Crap on here if we carry on talking like this.

[ian16th]

Picture an AA man in uniform (complete with gaiters) driving a yellow SWB Land Rover to guide you through London traffic - they would even hook-up your caravan to their LR and tow it ahead of you.
Kids of today wouldn't believe it.

Not forgetting the salute!

[Ex-Ascot]

They stopped them saluting on motor bikes didn't' they?

Not really a rant but the guys came to fit our wireless CCTV system today. Supposed to be here at 08,30. Phoned him at 10.00 they got here at 10.30. He didn't look at the instructions. It is wireless in that it talks to the control box without wires but each camera requires a power cable. Squirrel fodder. So he did a survey. We decided on where to put the cameras and he measured up for wire. More money. He said that he would not charge us for today's visit as it was his fault. Got him to look at our solar system. He has come up with a few ideas. We will implement them over the weekend and he is back again on Monday to fit cameras.

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

Rerouted dryer vent inside the casing as per provided instructions, which might as well have been in Swahili. Metalwork by Foo King E Jit Industrial Design Bureau of Shanghai (Head of Faculty: Al Fuk Tup).

[OFSO]

FCUK ! Got up this morning, still dark, put lights on in one of the downstairs bathrooms and saw damp patch on ceiling. Steps out, up ladder, poked plaster tile. Rotten with water. Cut out a piece of the tile, can see and reach wastepipe under bathroom upstairs, leaking at joint. Not much, but a drip now and then. Professional solution: ceiling down, new joint. Bodger solution: wait until dry, reach in through hole with handful of silicone, smear over outside of joint.

[Capetonian]

A story from my Madrid days :

SPANISH WORKMANSHIP

My gas water heater packed up. It was clear that the fault was in the machine itself, so I asked the porter to call the technicians (which he did, mañana), they came and inspected it (two days later), said it was OK, and that the fault was in the gas line, and the pressure was too low. So the gas men came ( three days later), and said the gas was fine, and the problem was low water pressure. So the water people came (after another two days), tested the water pressure, diagnosed it as correct, and left a note saying that the heater was faulty. Now the heater people have been called five times and haven't come. So, 15 days later, still no hot water. Unfortunately for them, I found the name and home number of one of the people in charge, and have left a message at their office saying that if it is not fixed within 24 hours I shall have no compunction in phoning this man at home at three o'clock every morning until I get service.

This produced a result. A 'technician' (a labourer by any other name) came and replaced a small part. It took him ten minutes. Then the heater worked. It was still working a week later when the bills came in. There was a bill from the gas company, one from the water company, and one from the heater company. I sent the heater company's bill to the gas company, the gas company's bill to the water company, and the water company's bill to the heater people. The thing still works and I haven't paid a penny!

[OFSO]

Interestingly my phone's banking app shows I received a payment of £50 yesterday. Only ID is the word 'Compensation'. Nothing more. (Not a rant, by the way!)

[ian16th]

Re my recent period 'off line'.

Had a lightning strike, line dead!

Called Telkom. Their 'engineer' says line OK, but none Telkom router/modem u/s.

Buy new router/modem. It doesn't operate as advertised.
Persuaded Indian retailer to take return and give me refund!!!!

Buy 2nd new modem/router, still doesn't operate as advertised.
Persuade Telkom to re-open reported fault. 2nd 'engineer' calls to inform me that he has found and fixed a fault outside of my boundary! He visits and cannot get my modem/router to operate, but he does demonstrate a his modem/router working with my PC and the line.

Return my modem/router to retailer, who does a check, and says it needs a firmware update. The field for my User Id is too short! My ID is 36 characters long.

He does the firmware update, and it all works.

2 days later, receive phone bill with a line item for 'Unnecessary Call-out Fee'.

Phone Telkom accounts and quoting Telkom reference numbers, point out that 2nd 'engineer' did find and correct a fault outside of my boundary.
Accounts person agrees to back out 'Unnecessary Call-out Fee', and credit my account for the offline period.

It is nice to win one.

[Woody]

Staff travel, not going to CPT via Durban, now trying for JNB, which is also full

[ian16th]

Staff travel, not going to CPT via Durban, now trying for JNB, which is also full

If you arrive at either of JNB or DBN, do your staff travel perq's include travelling with Comair/BA? Or do you have to pay?

[Woody]

You keep your BA priority on an ID90, quite handy really, it’s getting to ZA in the first place that’s the problem

[larsssnowpharter]

We returned to the UK about 6 years ago. I had left about 20 years earlier and, except for a couple of funerals, not been back.

On return, I had a new wife and the Sproglettes. Being a responsible sort of guy, one of the first things I did was register all of us with the local GP. A couple of weeks later, I get a big envelope from the NHS asking me to send a sample of my poo to a laboratory.

So, after 20 years, the first communication I get from a government organisation is a request for some *****. Typical.

But that's not the point of this rant. In the paperwork I filled in, I had to include my date of birth. This was also included in my car insurance application.

Since then I have been inundated with junk mail wanting me to buy burial lots, holidays for seniors, senior citizen discounts on chairlifts and cremation plans etc. Not exhaustive.

Am convinced that, either the NHS or car insurance company, has shared my data somewhere.

This came to a head this week when I had to call my energy supplier. During the process of resolving a minor query, they asked if, in the event of a power cut, I wanted to be put on a priority list as I was over 60. I asked if they had my birthdate in their records.

'Yes'.

'Well, why didn't you send me a birthday card, you bastards?'

I know we live in an age where personal and is a marketable commodity but FFS!

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

There was I thinking the UK Government was already full of sh!t...

...but apparently they need more!

[ian16th]

We returned to the UK about 6 years ago. I had left about 20 years earlier and, except for a couple of funerals, not been back.

On return, I had a new wife and the Sproglettes. Being a responsible sort of guy, one of the first things I did was register all of us with the local GP. A couple of weeks later, I get a big envelope from the NHS asking me to send a sample of my poo to a laboratory.

Did you serve the 6 months waiting period before getting the benefit of the NHS?

[Slasher]

I get a big envelope from the NHS asking me to send a sample of my poo to a laboratory.

Dear Mr Pharter,

Welcome back. By way of introduction we are reaching out to you to please defaecate into this envelope and post it so that we can learn more about your physiology and overall health. You wouldn’t believe the things we can discover by reading your turds.

Please don’t forget to seal the envelope after defaecation.

Yours sincerely,

NHS Crap Lab Team

[Hydromet]

Does anyone know if there's any truth to the story that the CIA tapped into De Gaulle's plumbing to capture his durts, to check his health?