Rant of the Day v2.

[PHXPhlyer]

I called for the second time in the last two days to complain about the poor to nonexistent 5G home internet service as well as the poor to nonexistent 4G data service from the same company for my cellphone service. I was only able to stream my FUBO TV service only intermittently with a variety of different error messages all saying essentially the same thing or simply displaying the pinwheel of death. My browser also acted like it was using constipated dial-up.
I spent an hour on hold/ actually talking to tech support for the streaming TV service who blamed everything on the 5G internet provider. I then spent another 45 minutes or so with internet tech support who did the usual troubleshooting and did a forced reset of my equipment from his side.
Today things were/are as bad or worse. Another call to 5G tech support resulted something totally surprising!
I had the tech support rep tell me the truth rather than blowing smoke. She said that the request that was sent to their local engineering department yesterday came back saying that all of my problems were due to network congestion. She went on to say that there were no plans to upgrade/add to the network in my area and to continue to expect the same poor service on an ongoing basis.
I am not used to being blatantly truthed to like this!
I am going to be taking this matter up with their corporate office.
WHile writing this rant they had an ad on claiming the largest and fastest 5G network. I will be calling them out on that claim as well.

PP

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

This kind of thing, where Customer Service provides a service to customers, has started happening in the UK also.
Only on Friday, my mother was told by email and by phoning the station staff that her train had been cancelled.
Since she was almost at the station anyway, she went in to discover that a helpdesk had been set up on the concourse because of the industrial action.
The rep seemed to know what was going on ( ), assured her her train was still running, and proved it by showing online bookings were possible. The train duly turned up.
OK, it turned up uncleaned and without any apparent guard, but it turned up. And ran almost on time.
And somewhere in the Midlands, some cleaning ladies popped on board, tidied up, then got off two stops later (presumably to clean another train on their way back).

It seems that there are still guerrilla Pockets of Competence in the so-called system.

Readers will be reassured that most of the passengers getting on were commenting about the mystery train that they had been told wasn't running. They'd just hopped on hoping to get a few stops closer to their destinations.

[ExSp33db1rd]

Quote ..

Does "Yeah ! Right !" mean you had a charge for the subs transfer?

If I really had been overdrawn then, yes, I would have had to pay something I guess, tho' presumably not the regular "fee" . In the end it didn't happen.

Don't you just love banks ? About to make the first trip back to Singapore for 10 years, 'cos I can't deposit / withdraw funds Online from a couple of banks that I kept accounts with when I retired 29 years ago. Some issue with passport numbers to prove I'm not a Nigerian Scammer, and I can't remember which banks and which numbers I have occasionally - maybe ? - updated as renewals have taken place over the intervening years. One Institution has demanded to see EVERY passport that I have ever owned since I first started to work in Sing. - in 1983. The passport I used then was renewed in Nov of that year and three times since then. Good job I kept them all, won't put them in my hold baggage, which will doubtless get lost, so will need a shirt and trousers with large pockets, my carry-on usually being over the massive 7 kg that Air New Zealand restrict them to.

[admin2]

I would have had to pay something I guess, tho' presumably not the regular "fee"

I am in severe danger of being confused here, Ex, by your posts. There is a 'regular "fee" ' for bank transfers? What is it?

[OFSO]

Last night, 23:00, I looked out the kitchen window to see a middle aged woman reaching over our front wall. I was so flabbergasted it took me a moment to realise she was unwinding our solar lights from the fence, having tried to remove the solar panel and failed. When she saw me looking at her she said "bona nit" and walked off with her dog. Bloody cheek.

[ExSp33db1rd]

I am in severe danger of being confused here,

So am I ! No, I am not charged for transfers for transfers between my accounts in the same currency, I think my comment was some confusion regarding a note about currency exchange that had been made by someone else, which do of course invoke extra fees. What I was threatened with was a Surcharge for being overdrawn, which I believe is the normal procedure, but was only going to be overdrawn because the bank hadn't moved money between my accounts automatically, as they have done for so many years. In the end they clearly sorted it out and I did not become overdrawn as suggested.

Forget it, I'm on to something else now, but it has done nothing to improve my opinion of NatWest and banks in general.

END.

[CharlieOneSix]

Don't worry, Ex-S - maybe it's the Scottish air but your posts on the subject made perfect sense here!

[Hydromet]

Lost a full day-and-a-bit of work because assorted failures of stuff. Firstly, cheap plastic fitting on a a window blind, just old enough to be out of warranty. failed. Headed to nearby hardware hell to get another one or in the worst case, a new blind. 200 metres from the store, the traffic lights were not letting anyone turn right, where I needed to go., probably because the idiot at the front hadn't driven far enough forward to trigger the sensor. Had to turn left and go round the world to get there. When I got there They were rearranging the blind section. Not even possible to go to another branch - they're doing it at all of them. Two hours wasted. Mrs Hydro tells me she didn't like that blind & two others the same anyway. Told her to find a blind shop, find something she likes and arrange quotes.

Yesterday a small but important grub screw came loose on my drum sander. Firstly, I had to remove the entire drive motor, gearbox, electronics to get at the grub screw. Had to faff around to find the flat that the screw was supposed to seat on. That was the quick bit - took a reasonable couple of hours. The fiddliest bit was adjusting the platen - always necessary after removing it. This involve bolting it down - four Allen bolts and two hex bolts with nyloc nuts, and passing a test piece through. If it needs adjustment, remove all the bolts, insert shims and repeat until the adjustment is complete. Simple, until one of the nyloc nuts stripped and wouldn't undo. Had to chisel that off. It took three goes to get the platen set correctly. Then had to put all the timber through for two more passes as the drive failure caused a slightly deeper cut on the piece being sanded - the last one.

I finally got a bit of productive work done for about an hour, some fine sanding, but decided I wasn't in the right frame of mind to do any marking out or cutting.
A curse on anything that is designed to fail and not be easily repaired.

[tango15]

Sacre bleu! We send les grenouilles a shedload of money to help stop illegal immigration across the Channel, and what happens? They take the piss, as only the French can, by making pretty patterns au-dessus la Manche!

[PHXPhlyer]

Blew out yet another flip flop!
Fortunately no pop-tops were involved as I am currently out of Tequila.
I wear flip flops 99% of the time that I actually wear footwear.
If you see me in big boy pants and real shoes it is a serious occasion, think funeral or court appearance.
I tend to blow out the thong on the right ones. This particular pair lasted an unusually long time, many years rather than a few months in some cases. The latest casualties were TEVAs, very good but not indestructible. I think I may have another pair of them squirreled away in the depths of my closet as I often buy several pairs when I find a good deal on them.
Glad I have a few emergency pairs still stashed away.

PP

[Karearea]

What is the point in my leaving a number if the caller is just going to contact the one I rang from? Used landline to leave a message yesterday, gave my cellphone number, they ring back the landline today. I could have been phoning from anywhere!

[ExSp33db1rd]

PHX . Interesting comments about your flip flops. F.F''s aren't for me, but some years ago I came across a line of Crocs that look like proper shoes, albeit rubber and “holy”. Full back heel and ankle cover, no laces of course, just pull on and the elasticity of the rubber does the rest. They are the most comfortable shoes have I ever come across, wear them ALL the time, can't even remember where I put my shoe polish and brushes now, a quick spray with Silicone occasionally is all I occasionally do.

I've long considered that if you find something you like, buy many, 'cos when it wears out it will have been phased out by the Fashion Police, or money grubbing retailers. Sadly I failed my own advice in this case, tho' when the first pair showed sole wear, I was able to repeat with another pair, but no longer, Crocs have discontinued.

I found an old fashioned shoe repairer - remember them? - who said no one replaces worn out soles anymore, buy another pair, but ….I realised that they were black rubber, as are motor car inner tubes, so every now and again I beg a punctured inner tube from the local tyre repairer, and a pair of scissors and a tube of impact adhesive does the trick. No one knows ! I do have to be careful tho' if walking in the rain and wearing socks, as of course I do, regarding them in the same way as regular shoes every day, formal dress or not. Puddles have to be avoided. I have every confidence that these two pairs will see me out. The thought of having to bend over to tie laces fills me with horror.

[PHXPhlyer]

Crocs still going .
They just announced Croc Cowboy Boots.

https://www.crocs.com/p/crocs-classic-c ... 08695.html

Available Soon on Croc Day, October 23. Our Classic Crocs Cowboy Boot was made for our fans and inspired by our fans’ creativity. This limited-edition Croctober boot features a signature Crocskin texture, metallic disco desert embroidery details, and a spinning spur on the back so you can really kick up some dirt. Plus, each pair includes a Croc Star™ Jibbitz™ charm, 2023 Cowboy Duke Jibbitz™ charm, and plenty of room to add your own personalization.

Crocs Classic Cowboy Boot Details:

Crocskin texture
Metallic embroidery details
Removable spur on the backstrap
Comfy Croslite™ footbeds
Vent holes for breathability
Customizable with Jibbitz™ charms

Link goes to the full Croc site.
Order yourself some new ones.

PP

[G-CPTN]

As with many on here I qualify for a Winter Fuel payment.
I have recently moved house.
I contacted the telephone number on the letter informing me of my entitlement intending to inform them of my change of address.
Not that easy.
A sequence of random security questions - such as "What is the account number of your Winter Fuel payment? - not my bank account number but their account used to pay me . . . and no guarantee that that will be one of the questions next time . . . (I could get that from my bank)

They have my account details that they will pay the payment into, but where I live is, apparently, protected and needing security questions.
Needless to say I failed the security check.
If I do nothing I will no doubt receive the payment to my bank - unless they disqualify me for incorrect information (not informing of a change of circumstances).

! !

[OFSO]

Two years ago, despite phoning and confirming my new address was on their records since June, Winter Fuel Payments paid in November to me with letter to my former address and cancelled the payment to the house owner there as "only one full payment is made per household". Numerous phone calls, letters (never answered). Never resolved. Of all the useless civil service workers, they are the worst.

[CharlieOneSix]

Where on earth does the Independent get its reporters from? It has been widely reported that 330 homes have been evacuated in Brechin as a precaution due to expected flooding. Brechin has a population of about 7,300.......but the Independent reports that:

An entire town has been evacuated over flooding fears as Storm Babet batters Scotland with landslides and a potentially record amount of rain.

Misinformation from The Independent

[OneHungLow]

Where on earth does the Independent get its reporters from? It has been widely reported that 330 homes have been evacuated in Brechin as a precaution due to expected flooding. Brechin has a population of about 7,300.......but the Independent reports that:

An entire town has been evacuated over flooding fears as Storm Babet batters Scotland with landslides and a potentially record amount of rain.

Misinformation from The Independent

Missed the bit about building an Ark!

Needs a proper sub-editor...

[OFSO]

French wine producers currently blocking the border with Spain, stopping wine transports heading into France and destroying their contents. Protesting unfair competition. EU saying nothing, of course.

[CharlieOneSix]

I wasn't sure whether to put this here or in the jokes thread. Storm Babet was the worst in NE Scotland for years with three deaths, an evacuation of hundreds of households all over the area, a 35 mile closure of the A90 due to flooding, other flooded A, B, and minor roads closed everywhere, etc etc etc.....yet did the Government Emergency Alerts System kick in? Of course it didn't!
https://www.gov.uk/alerts

Emergency Alerts is a UK government service that will warn you if there’s a danger to life nearby.
You may get alerts about:

severe flooding
fires
extreme weather

In an emergency, your mobile phone or tablet will receive an alert with advice about how to stay safe.
The government does not need to know your phone number or location to send you an alert.

Maybe the reason we didn't get any alerts is because the storm didn't trouble Londoners and the South East.

A motorist caught out near Dundee...

oops1.jpg (21.41 KiB) Viewed 1554 times

[tango15]

I think you're probably right, C16. Here on the Northamptonshire/Cambridgeshire/Bedfordshire border, there has been little sign of any storm activity, apart from some rain, and I count myself very lucky, not least because the numpties around here could not organise a celebration in a brewery.
Part of the problem, imho, is the media, who splash these weather warnings on the front pages without being specific. Thus, the large percentage of the population who remain unaffected by it, treat it as a joke. If there is any part of the UK that is more adept at dealing with bad weather it's Scotland, as I know from personal experience. Kudos to all those who braved appalling conditions to assist those who were affected by this storm.