Your rants here.

menthel

I miss my commute by bike. That is all.

rick_chasey

First Aspect wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

Mattsaw wrote:

Middle age is using a landline in 2017

FTFY

We have no mobile signal in the house and barely any outside. And a signal booster running from the WiFi so the mobiles will work. The internet is ADSL.

Would I be more modern if I disconnected the actual handset for the land line?

Or just moved house

itboffin

My boiler went just before xmas it's still working but putting out 2000% the safe levels of co2

It's being replaced on Wednesday for £3500 mind you it's an oil boiler over 20 years old and I'm replacing it will a silent externally mounted model, finally we won't have to listen to the deafing drone everything it kicks in and all or radiators will be hot top and bottom.

FYI filling an oil boiler twice a year is about £1000

veronese68

menthel wrote:

I miss my commute by bike. That is all.

How are you doing otherwise? Still getting out?

hopkinb

Veronese68 wrote:

menthel wrote:

I miss my commute by bike. That is all.

How are you doing otherwise? Still getting out?

We could go for a ride incorporating cake and/or beer?

menthel

I am fat and slow but still cycling, happy for beer and cake but not speed!

rjsterry

itboffin wrote:

My boiler went just before xmas it's still working but putting out 2000% the safe levels of co2

It's being replaced on Wednesday for £3500 mind you it's an oil boiler over 20 years old and I'm replacing it will a silent externally mounted model, finally we won't have to listen to the deafing drone everything it kicks in and all or radiators will be hot top and bottom.

FYI filling an oil boiler twice a year is about £1000

You've done well to get 20 years out of a boiler, so not all bad.

tangled_metal

Broadband, landline and mobile phone companies. Need i say more?

OK! Apart from the way they deliberately try to make prices confusing and harder to compare between desks. There's the price increases halfway through a deal. You get one deal set up and find it's no longer the best deal but it'll cost to change to a cheaper one with the same company. Why not do like energy companies when they have to tell you about a cheaper deal on bills? Then line rentals, why? Correct me if I'm wrong you cannot use broadband and home phones without a landline? Isn't it less confusing for overall pricing to put it into the price? At the moment you have broadband price, line rental price and calls price. Why not just broadband with line rental included or if you just want landline then add rental to calls price?

Then you call BT to find a good deal. Customer services and retention department all try pressure selling. They give you a deal, usually a poor deal. Then they realise you're not interested so give you options. If you can bundle extra services it "unlocks" better deals. Really? £16 broadband halves with a mobile deal added. Only have to change to a 2 year deal and pay over the odds for the mobile portion of the deal. You of course are making notes so you can go off and decide against other options. No! this deal will not be easy to get back to. Gotta take it now. Pressure selling. No thanks! If it's not available when i call back you'll not get by custom.

So I'm left with a deal that's supposedly a very good deal costing at the most cost effective (up front payment of line rental for example) £422 a year! What planet do they think i come from? Ive seen sky doing similar service for £154!!!!

That's BT for you. I've yet to contact other providers.

BTW no capacity in the cabinet for fibre so I'm stuck on standard broadband giving me at best 14mbs download but often a lot less than that. Fibre capacity was met very quick after it got put into the street. My BT broadband is very temperamental. We tend to get 4 days with patchy connections every other week. The cable must need replacing (how much will that cost to replace).

So I'm getting stung for over priced broadband and phones, poor connection stability and customer services who pressure sell and try to con me into a dodgy deal.

Buyer beware! Where is Ofcom here? Is it time Ofcom got on top of pricing and broadband/phone companies?

One more rant, How did BT get past regulators with the purchase of EE but three network couldn't buy O2? BT has a near stranglehold on our landline network and are then able to buy the biggest mobile phone network? Surely take both mobile and hard wired network into consideration in deciding if there's any negative to consumers? You have O2 parent company desperate to offload in the UK. The third biggest mobile provider wants i buy thus making the biggest UK provider jumping over EE. Not allowed! Then BT(biggest broadband and phone provider) can buy the biggest mobile provider to become the uks biggest telecommunications provider in both landline and mobile formats. Crazy!

veronese68

menthel wrote:

I am fat and slow but still cycling, happy for beer and cake but not speed!

Snap. And I've entered a ridiculous race in March. :?

wongataa

Tangled Metal wrote:

Broadband, landline and mobile phone companies. Need i say more?

OK! Apart from the way they deliberately try to make prices confusing and harder to compare between desks. There's the price increases halfway through a deal. You get one deal set up and find it's no longer the best deal but it'll cost to change to a cheaper one with the same company. Why not do like energy companies when they have to tell you about a cheaper deal on bills?

They have to inform you of price rises.

Tangled Metal wrote:

Then line rentals, why? Correct me if I'm wrong you cannot use broadband and home phones without a landline? Isn't it less confusing for overall pricing to put it into the price? At the moment you have broadband price, line rental price and calls price. Why not just broadband with line rental included or if you just want landline then add rental to calls price?

The rules changed recently so the prices have to include line rental and fix your issue with everything being separate.

tangled_metal

Not according to BT customer retentions. They gave me three monthly charges. Broadband, line rental and call charges. Personally I'd prefer it to be a package. All three components added to give one headline charge. Then it's comparable straight away over the phone with no confusion. Plus a straight ban on new customer vs existing customer price difference. It's just a con trick the way they're doing it. Customers lose out unless they're canny.

menthel

Veronese68 wrote:

menthel wrote:

I am fat and slow but still cycling, happy for beer and cake but not speed!

Snap. And I've entered a ridiculous race in March. :?

What race are you doing in March?

veronese68

menthel wrote:

Veronese68 wrote:

menthel wrote:

I am fat and slow but still cycling, happy for beer and cake but not speed!

Snap. And I've entered a ridiculous race in March. :?

What race are you doing in March?

Battle on the Beach. It's CJCP's fault, I really need to find an excuse or a magic pill.
Do you know any doctor's that can help out with medication?

Quins

Flu, sinuses and hacking cough. Since NYD, lost 7lbs in 7 days ( it did develop into the sh!ts too), still suffering, hardly any sleep. Rotten. It's utter Bol X. Mrs is worse than me now. Feckin miserable Victor meldrew.

hopkinb

Veronese68 wrote:

menthel wrote:

Veronese68 wrote:

menthel wrote:

I am fat and slow but still cycling, happy for beer and cake but not speed!

Snap. And I've entered a ridiculous race in March. :?

What race are you doing in March?

Battle on the Beach. It's CJCP's fault, I really need to find an excuse or a magic pill.
Do you know any doctor's that can help out with medication?

That looks quite hardcore V68! Maybe we should get that ride in the calendar?! I understand that the "dark net" will allow you to procure the EPO, steroids, and industrial quantities of amphetamine you may find useful!

menthel

Veronese68 wrote:

menthel wrote:

Veronese68 wrote:

menthel wrote:

I am fat and slow but still cycling, happy for beer and cake but not speed!

Snap. And I've entered a ridiculous race in March. :?

What race are you doing in March?

Battle on the Beach. It's CJCP's fault, I really need to find an excuse or a magic pill.
Do you know any doctor's that can help out with medication?

Lol, you silly beggar! I know plenty of docs funnily enough, but none with Epo rights!

veronese68

hopkinb wrote:

Veronese68 wrote:

menthel wrote:

Veronese68 wrote:

menthel wrote:

I am fat and slow but still cycling, happy for beer and cake but not speed!

Snap. And I've entered a ridiculous race in March. :?

What race are you doing in March?

Battle on the Beach. It's CJCP's fault, I really need to find an excuse or a magic pill.
Do you know any doctor's that can help out with medication?

That looks quite hardcore V68! Maybe we should get that ride in the calendar?! I understand that the "dark net" will allow you to procure the EPO, steroids, and industrial quantities of amphetamine you may find useful!

I was hoping Menthel knew someone.
I now know the true meaning of buyers remorse.

menthel

Veronese68 wrote:

hopkinb wrote:

Veronese68 wrote:

menthel wrote:

Veronese68 wrote:

menthel wrote:

I am fat and slow but still cycling, happy for beer and cake but not speed!

Snap. And I've entered a ridiculous race in March. :?

What race are you doing in March?

Battle on the Beach. It's CJCP's fault, I really need to find an excuse or a magic pill.
Do you know any doctor's that can help out with medication?

That looks quite hardcore V68! Maybe we should get that ride in the calendar?! I understand that the "dark net" will allow you to procure the EPO, steroids, and industrial quantities of amphetamine you may find useful!

I was hoping Menthel knew someone.
I now know the true meaning of buyers remorse.

Looks like rather than drugs you will need something to get the sand out of your bibshorts! Imagine the chafing...

andy9964

Quins wrote:

Flu, sinuses and hacking cough. Since NYD, lost 7lbs in 7 days ( it did develop into the sh!ts too), still suffering, hardly any sleep. Rotten. It's utter Bol X. Mrs is worse than me now. Feckin miserable Victor meldrew.

You have my sympathies. I seem to have a dose of man flu, coughing all weekend, couldn't keep any food down and a temperature peak of 39.7°C.
I;d like to take this opportunity to thank my work colleagues. who dragged themselves into work when they were ill and passed it round :roll:

KnightOfTheLongTights

I ‘called out’ (as it seems to go these days) a bloke in some sort of Audi-looking car this morning – I’m turning from our street onto the main road and he comes steaming past accelerating way too fast for the surroundings.
I catch up with him down the road and see he’s got a ‘Baby on Board’ sign in the back window.
So I pull alongside and he winds the window down – I say ‘You know you’ve got a Baby on Board sign in the back?’
‘Yeah?’
‘You know you just accelerated down this road like you’re in the Grand Prix?’
‘Er…?’
‘Do you not see the irony in that?’ He doesn’t say anything, starts to raise window.
‘So everyone’s meant to tiptoe around YOU because you’ve got a BABY – ON – BOARD!? But you can drive like a f * cking PRICK the rest of the time, is THAT the rule, EH!? Is that the f * cking RULE!!!?’

Sorta lost it at the end.

kingstongraham

So he didn't have a baby on board?

Tashman

I used to display one of those signs until I saw the irony that I was expecting people to drive differently and that for 50% of my journeys there was no baby. people aren't going to change their driving behaviour just because of a 15cm sq of plastic

fat daddy

Tashman wrote:

people aren't going to change their driving behaviour just because of a 15cm sq of plastic

you say that ..... but there is no way I would park next to a car with a baby on board sticker .... ever tried getting a baby in or out of a car with someone parked in the space next to you ?

of course you could leave the baby on the floor whilst you move the car around .... but to be honest I would rather risk scratching the other persons door

MrSweary

KnightOfTheLongTights wrote:

Audi-looking car

Yup -thats your problem right there..

veronese68

Tashman wrote:

I used to display one of those signs until I saw the irony that I was expecting people to drive differently and that for 50% of my journeys there was no baby. people aren't going to change their driving behaviour just because of a 15cm sq of plastic

As Marge said in an episode of the Simpsons "I bought this sign to stop people deliberately driving into me". I think FD has the right idea, they are more of a warning to other road users. The driver of the vehicle may well be distracted by a baby.

rhodrich

Dear Motorcyclists,

You may have a vehicle that only has two wheels, but this does not allow you to use compulsory cycle lanes, or to sneak into the bike box at traffic lights. When someone calls you out on this behaviour, it's not sufficient to say that it's acceptable 'because you saw a cyclist swerve out of the cycle lane into the main carriageway at Vauxhall Cross'.

Kind Regards

A pedal cyclist

kingstongraham

Dear driver of the white car in Richmond park this morning who might have had number plate something like AJ14CNX,

In a 20mph limit, when there is a car coming the other direction and the cyclist in front of you (doing slightly over 20mph) moves to the centre of the lane, it is because it is not safe for you to overtake. It is therefore not acceptable to overtake anyway, and then drift left into the cyclist because you don't want to have a head on collision.

In this situation, when your car takes the first punch against the front wing, it is an indication that it would be safest for you to reduce speed rather than carrying on overtaking. It is unfortunate that your wing mirror only bent back and did not come off from the second.

I say this because I don't even think you noticed.

Yours,

Graham

KnightOfTheLongTights

KingstonGraham wrote:

So he didn't have a baby on board?

I don't think so - he looked like he was commuting to work. Although actually I didn't look... The irony would have been stronger if there had been a Baby On Board, but only a little...

tangled_metal

I don't actually care if there is a baby on board. We're not related. It doesn't change my driving style just makes me think you're a dick.

The only sign worse than baby on board is little princess on board. If she's s princess then please be aware I'm anti-monarchy and do not believe in inherited titles. Princess my @rse. She's a screaming brat that's distracting you whilst driving so shut her up or stop weaving all over the place when you drive.

Btw to the guy who mentioned hitting the car and wing mirror. Don't try that with Bentleys! They're solid. I hit one and got sent flying. The mirror was completely unmarked

Brakeless

Tangled Metal wrote:

I don't actually care if there is a baby on board. We're not related. It doesn't change my driving style just makes me think you're a dick.

The only sign worse than baby on board is little princess on board. If she's s princess then please be aware I'm anti-monarchy and do not believe in inherited titles. Princess my @rse. She's a screaming brat that's distracting you whilst driving so shut her up or stop weaving all over the place when you drive.

Btw to the guy who mentioned hitting the car and wing mirror. Don't try that with Bentleys! They're solid. I hit one and got sent flying. The mirror was completely unmarked

We got cut up on a club run once by a car with said sticker.

Guy at the front of our group rides up to the car at the lights.

Driver very aggressively 'What's your problem'

Cyclist very calmly ' I saw the baby on board sticker, I was just checking the baby wasn't actually driving'