Rant of the Day v2.

[llondel]

Obviously a slow news day.

[Pontius Navigator]

Mine tried to get my wife to sue for whiplash. FROM ME.

Aren’t you a bit old for that kinky stuff Pontius?

There is no age limit in UK



for driving.




Seriously, this was in a small car park and I scraped another car. We didn't even no and there was no damage on our car. They stung us for £1,000 in repairs.

[OFSO]

Wife bumped Rumanians at lights, 1mph impact. No damage whatsoever. Passing police stopped which made Rumanian lady go silent, noted no damage. All drove off. They billed my BILs insurance for £750, insurance company paid up THEN told him. Like a mug he accepted it. Grrrrrr. Next insurance renewal he lost his NCB. Mug.

[OFSO]

Arrive at Gare de Nord this lunchtime. Get in taxi for run to Gare de Lyon. Normal price €15-18. Driver NR, jovial, taxi Mercedes minibus. Arrive at Gare de Lyon, driver demands €45. I tell him WHAT ? Normally €18. He says because it's a large minibus. I reply, that's your problem. I say you are getting €20. He says €25. I say €20. I give him a €50 note and get €30 in return. Victory for the R, defeat for the NR. No animosity, just a try-on.

[Capetonian]

Good for you. Are't they supposed to use a meter? What did it show, or did he not use it?
I had similar experience in Madrid once. I told him to drive me to another address ......... he asked me what address that was, and I said it's the nearest police station to my house.
He backed down.

[ian16th]

Arrive at Gare de Nord this lunchtime. Get in taxi for run to Gare de Lyon. Normal price €15-18. Driver NR, jovial, taxi Mercedes minibus. Arrive at Gare de Lyon, driver demands €45. I tell him WHAT ? Normally €18. He says because it's a large minibus. I reply, that's your problem. I say you are getting €20. He says €25. I say €20. I give him a €50 note and get €30 in return. Victory for the R, defeat for the NR. No animosity, just a try-on.

In 1957 it was F1,000

[Capetonian]

In 1957 there weren't very many NRs in France!
In those days the Frogs devalued their currency, by lopping a few zeros off, more often than they changed their underwear or used soap.
1000 Frog Francs in 1957 was less than £1.

[ian16th]

In 1957 there weren't very many NRs in France!
In those days the Frogs devalued their currency, by lopping a few zeros off, more often than they changed their underwear or used soap.
1000 Frog Francs in 1957 was less than £1.

We were paid at the rate of £1: F1176.

I can still remember, as an Cpl in an advanced trade I drew F8,700 a week.

A beer on camp was F35. In a civilian bar you paid about F80.

[Alisoncc]

Ian, down the Gulf when the eagle shat we got rupees. Half way through my tour they changed to dinars. For a few weeks the pay zobit would change rupees for dinars, so we would take off down the souk after being paid to buy rupees with our dinars. Then get the man to change our rupees for dinars. Making at least 40% on each transaction.

Alison

[ian16th]

Wasn't there a Valletta that flew a triangular route around the middle east, where the crew changed money and made a profit at each stop?

I believe I documented on here or TOP about the 1st time 214 went to Karachi, where we were paid in Pak Rupees before we left, and brought more back than we took out and the Pak High Commission wouldn't take them back.

[ExSp33db1rd]

I always work out the exchange rate the wrong way initially. Our cabin crew on the London-Anchorage-Tokyo route made a small fortune each trip, UK pounds into US dollars, then Jap. Yen and back again, and had made a UK pound profit by the time they got back to London. I can't remember who did what to whom, never got my head around it. Remember changing money in the Souk in Muscat, some old geezer sat on a wall with an old brown suitcase and an abacus. Gave him our collection of assorted rubbish, he gave a few clicks on the abacus then reached in the suitcase and with barely looking pulled out the correct amount of hard currency that we had requested,usually pounds or dollars of course.

[ExSp33db1rd]

Banks. I've related many times how NATWEST UK have driven me to distraction with endless letters over the past year, complaining that they cannot send me mobile phone text alerts because either a) I have given them the wrong number, No, or b) my number is an International one that can't be used by their system - then they post the letter to New Zealand - Yes !!! there's a clue there, somewhere !

In October I lost my patience and sent their last letter back, heavily "corrected" with a red marker pen, accompanied by a covering note apologising for my rudeness, but ..... etc.

I eventually got a reply to the effect that the first letter had been an auto. mail out by a computer programme, which I can appreciate, but subsequent ones, after being told ? I was assured that the matter had been addressed, and indeed my Online Profile showed that I was no longer "registered" for text alerts, good. A few days later I received a grovelling, apologetic e-mail to the same effect. That was by now mid-November.

In the first mail delivery after Christmas I received another letter from Natwest, dated 12th December, telling me ..... guess what !!!

One could weep.

[llondel]

I keep getting told I'm being switched back to old fashioned paper bills because I'm not receiving their email notifications. This is news to me, given that as far as I know I've been receiving them all along, including one shortly before, and another shortly after, receiving their letter on the subject. My best guess is that they weren't getting any feedback from the web bugs they put in their HTML messages (my system is set up to suppress those) and I never click on the links in email messages, I go to my bookmark to access the site so they have no way of knowing that I was reading their stuff. Just as bad as sending me something by post and not knowing whether I received it.

[Capetonian]

Airline sites that used cached availability.

Select flights : £1088.
Book flights : Sorry, the price has changed. The new price is £1292.

[ExSp33db1rd]

Not only airline sites, Hotels too. Barstewards. Only look once, and make a quick decision.

[OFSO]

14 year old boy knocked off his motor scooter driving down a London street by several men in a car who then got out and stabbed him as he lay unconscious. So what was a 14 year old doing driving a motor scooter two years before the legal age to do so. Insurance ? Driving licence ? Where did he get the money to buy it ? Not a random killing so why ? He had just moved to the area and "was a lovely bright boy who never did anyone any harm" (family) which is always a give-away.

My rant is that as ever the media is distorting the facts of the case. "14 year old drug runner (or mistaken for drug runner) killed to discourage other interlopers" would probably be nearer the truth.

[4mastacker]

He's wiv da angles now, innit bruv. Our local news were reporting his pals in Nottingham are getting grief counselling. FFS!

[Capetonian]

Apparently he was seen making 'gun signs' to the ones in the car. The whole bloody lot should be removed from the face of the earth.

[Capetonian]

I have a friend who perpetually pleads poverty and to whom I used have to lend money, and yet :

Can transfer number at cost to new phone, probally CellC R399/ month 3cameras 24mp+2more. Bigger memory+memory sim+ faster cpu Samsung J 7or9 Terry

He always has to have the latest and most expensive phone and because it's only R399 a month (read 400) he doesn't look at the total cost. Absolutely no need for it, he is retired doesn't work and lives on a pension.

[ian16th]

Remember, fibre has yet to appear at private homes down here. in the backwoods.

I have a copper land line from Telkom, with 4Mb ADSL, uncapped, voice calls to other Telkom number included. 'Er indoors talks to mates in Joburg for hours! This did cost R599/month, slipped over the R600 mark with the increase of VAT.
One other feature that is included is 2GB/month of Telkom Mobile Data.
My cellphone was a Nokia C201, on pay as you go with Vodacom. R100 of airtime lasts me about 6 months.

To access the 'free' Telkom data, I bought a reasonable Samsung dual sim phone for R5500.
Put the Vodacom sim in one slot and Telkom gave me a sim to get to their 2GB of mobile data.

I now find my pay as you go bill is reducing as I use the Samsung with WhatsApp instead of paying for voice calls.

I haven't used even 1GB of data in a month.