Rant of the Day v2.

[ian16th]

Why is it that you can spend good, hard earned money on nice soft cotton shirts, vest and underpants et al.

Then find that the maker has stitched into the collar or waistband a label denoting the size and washing instructions, and this label is made from hard scratchy man made fibre?

This really, in all senses of the word, IRRITATES me.

[OFSO]

Once upon a time there was a Spanish telcomms firm called Iberbanda. They had a mast in every town and would for a not-inconsiderable monthly sum, erect a microwave antenna on your roof, pointing at the mast many kms away, but giving fairly good broadband internet & phone connection. This is called WiMax and is very successful.

The Spanish telecomms giant Telefonica aka Moviestar didn't like this and bought them out with the object of shutting them down.

In summer 2018 I got a note informing me Iberbanda was closing and telling me I would have to sign up for a Telefonica/Moviestar 3G/4G internet connection through a home mifi box, which I did, and it works. Hooray ! (Made of course by Huawei just like all our phones &etc).

But the monthly bills from Iberbanda kept coming. I phoned Telefonica/Moviestar, couldn't help. (Why not ? You bought Iberbanda, you bastards).

So went to my bank last week and signed a claw-back form, taking back from Iberbanda my last monthly charges.

And what a surprise ! Today a nice man from Iberbanda turned up, removed the dish from my roof, the power supply and wifi modem (which I never used, having bought my own superior one) said good day, and left. Would he have come if I had not clawed back my last payments ?

Friend of mine bought a huge plot in Empuriabrava on which had stood a couple of houses, demolished years before. No utilities connected. But he was surprised to get bills from the electricity and phone people for current use of facilities - which don't exist.

All together now: BASTARDS.

[Ex-Ascot]

1) When I have the misfortune to have to stand in a queue, the person behind me stands DIRECTLY behind me with their nose in the back of my neck. If I step sideways to reduce the proximity, they will also step sideways to remain directly behind me. Apart from farting copiously and odiferously, which I cannot always do on demand, how do I avoid this problem?

Cape, you shout, '*****', or summat along those line. Smartly step back hard onto his foot of your choice and then say, 'did you see the size of that rat', pointing perpendicularly away from the queue. Adding, 'guess his mates will be following soon' may even help you to get to the front of the queue quicker.

If a girlie slightly different. You start rubbing her tits with your back. Or rub your back with the back of your hand over your shoulder presenting the palm to the offenders frontage.

Obviously apologise profusely and say, 'sorry didn't know you were so close behind me. In the SAS we were always taught on parade to stand one arm's length apart.'

If big black guy or big black mamma you may have to accept losing your place in the queue by legging it.

[izod tester]

Just received a parking charge notice from a company called Parking Eye who administer the car parks at the Royal United Hospital Bath. Mrs IT took her 96 year old mother there last Sunday Week for an MRI scan. MiL has a blue disabled badge which was properly displayed in windscreen. However, badge had recently been renewed by MiL who did not appreciate the need to register the new badge with the Hospital reception (old badge was so registered). Will have to see whether an appeal will work, or whether bureaucrats will adhere to the letter of their small print.

[boing]

Parking Eye and similar outfits simply rent space that people use for parking, put up signs and then make a science and business of trapping people.

Read this:

https://www.parkingcowboys.co.uk/parking-eye/

Parking Eye’s operations, and recent litigious behaviour, has resulted in a lot of ill feeling from motorists and consumer organisations. Typically this has been because:

The size of charge is disproportionate to the breach (e.g. is it fair to ‘fine’ someone £100 for overstaying by 20 minutes in a free car park?)
Genuine customers are being ticketed, for example by having a coffee in the supermarket cafe after their shop. Surely it wasn’t these people the land owner was intending to deter?
The rules are not adjusted for older and disabled motorists who understandably take longer to use facilities. In fact, the Equalities Act requires reasonable adjustments to be made
The allowable time is too short (some car parks have limits of only 30 minutes)
They haven’t cancelled tickets for people claiming genuine mitigating circumstances (e.g. illness, breakdowns)

I tangled with one of these vultures near Heathrow, I ignored them and they went away but it looks as though Parking Eye is getting pushy. Complain to the people that employ PE and point out how bad the PR is to them. Getting the local press involved would not hurt either if you want to make the effort.

.

[ian16th]

Dealing with the NHS in the UK, you are disadvantaged, as you can't easily take your business elsewhere.

[4mastacker]

Got stuck in a supermarket queue when one of the tills went into melt-down. One woman put a single item (a newspaper) on the conveyor belt, tried to pay for it by card and asked for fifty quid cash-back. Till refused to play. Checkout supervisor called and started pressing buttons, wiping card to clean the chip, try again, running to other end of the checkout to make phone calls. After waiting over five minutes - I had emptied my trolley onto the conveyer, I decided to move to the adjacent check-out queue. Eventually got my stuff through and was paying for it when the check-out supervisor asked the woman that started the delay the question that should have been asked first "Is your bank card valid?" Turns out the card had expired two years previous and the dozy bat was still carrying it around in her purse.

[ian16th]

Got stuck in a supermarket queue when one of the tills went into melt-down. One woman put a single item (a newspaper) on the conveyor belt, tried to pay for it by card and asked for fifty quid cash-back. Till refused to play. Checkout supervisor called and started pressing buttons, wiping card to clean the chip, try again, running to other end of the checkout to make phone calls. After waiting over five minutes - I had emptied my trolley onto the conveyer, I decided to move to the adjacent check-out queue. Eventually got my stuff through and was paying for it when the check-out supervisor asked the woman that started the delay the question that should have been asked first "Is your bank card valid?" Turns out the card had expired two years previous and the dozy bat was still carrying it around in her purse.

The card reading terminal should have rejected the card and displayed the information.

The expiration date is in the mag stripe.

[Capetonian]

I had a strange experience today in a supermarket. Put my CC into the machine at the checkout and it said 'check card'. As I'd used the card twenty minutes earlier to pay for lunch I knew there was nothing wrong with it. I pulled it out an re-inserted it and without even entering the PIN it accepted the charge and the slip was printed out.

The 'contactless' facility is disabled, and the amount was above the limit. The cashier was as surprised as I was.

[ExSp33db1rd]

I frequently put my card into the reading gadgets, chip first, then get a message " Swipe card" so do that and get a message "Insert card"
I've just done that, you stupid machine.

It's called progress.

[ExSp33db1rd]

e-mail failure message.........

>>> xxxxxxxx@yahoo.co.uk (while not connected): 554 5.4.7 [internal]
>>> exceeded max time without delivery

This was a short message, no attachments or photo's.

Getting this with a lot of Yahoo e-mail addresses, Yahoo.co.uk and Yahoo.com

Is it my ISP at fault, or Yahoo ?

Sometimes they go through OK, often not. Irritating.

[admin]

There is a whole array of new authentication checks being implemented by major email providers to stop the distribution of spam. If an email doesn't meet all of their new standards then it gets rejected. One of the more significant tasks I have to undertake, almost on a weekly basis, is tweaking the sites email system to ensure emails get through. Some, like AOL, I've given up on. Whilst there are ostensibly "standards", different players are seemingly implementing them differently. Problem most probably is your ISP, Speedy.

Alison

[4mastacker]

.....................................

The card reading terminal should have rejected the card and displayed the information.

The expiration date is in the mag stripe.

I went on the supermarket's web-site and told them about my "shopping experience". Got a reply saying that the recently installed tills are new technology and "unfortunately, unforeseen problems do arise". Don't they test these bloody machines before letting them loose on the paying public??

[ExSp33db1rd]

No, we have new ones, too. They're hopeless, give errors all the time.

[ian16th]

Don't they test these bloody machines before letting them loose on the paying public??

In these financially stressed times, apparently not.

Today's technique is 'Let it loose on the public, and call it Beta Testing!'

We should all be concerned if the aviation industry starts doing this.

Mind you, looking at the Lion Air incident...........................

[Capetonian]

And the RR Trent engines?

[ian16th]

And the RR Trent engines?

Are you a RR share holder?

I remember the original RB-211 causing problems, and the 1971 nationalisation!

I was involved with Henry Wiggin that supplied the Nimonic alloy for the turbine blades.

[Magnus]

Hospital car parks. Queue for ages, appointment due, and the machine eventually issues a ticket. OK, so now I'm on the clock. Take ticket, drive round 3 times, no spaces other than disabled. Now late for appointment, open wound in foot, paying for non-existent parking space, park in disabled space so I can limp in late. Get bollocking from attendant. Apparently, I'm supposed to drive round forever looking for a "regular" space, as their system only counts total cars and total spaces and can't differentiate between able and disabled spaces. I fekn hate PFI hospitals.

[CharlieOneSix]

Hacked off!! Just to be sure we wouldn't be late I left 50 minutes for a 30 minute drive into Aberdeen for the funeral of a friend. Got stuck in a tailback of traffic on the A90 dual carriageway some three miles from the Church for 1 hour and 20 minutes due to unannounced road works on the single carriageway Bridge of Dee. No side roads available to escape. Really upset that we missed the service. That bridge dates from 1527 and was widened in 1841. It's totally inadequate for today's traffic yet can't be touched as it's listed!

It was obviously beyond the wit of Aberdeen Council to make the bridge one way today and send the opposing traffic to the next bridge.

[Capetonian]

I am a RR shareholder as it happens(about £12000 of shares). Just wondering why you asked!