Seemingly trivial things that annoy you

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Comments

  • mrb123
    mrb123 Posts: 4,624

    She should have got the SL8. According to Specialized it's 16.6 seconds quicker over 40km.

  • briantrumpet
    briantrumpet Posts: 18,083

    I got annoyed with a chap from the travel insurance lot, as I thought he was trying to wriggle out of paying part of my claim (for a missed train and then a much more expensive one). As I was just drafting a complaint, I realised what he was on about (in effect, I was ignoring that I'd got to where I wanted to go, but not allowing the fact that my claim would have meant I'd have got there for free if they'd paid up in full), so I must call them back in the morning: I'd like to apologise to the person I spoke to, as I got quite short.

    Annoyed with myself for being dim. Also annoyed that I have to go through about 20 options on the phone to get to the claims dept. Also annoyed that it all has to be done over the phone, so it's trickier to 'see' the position and to respond after proper thinking.

  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,867
    edited April 25

    Buried deep in the footnotes of advice, turns out the Dutch have created a massive new administrative step in order to continue to keep a Dutch passport, in the form of having to get all UK documents needed for the renewal "legalised". from an "apostille"

    Deliberately not advertised, I suspect.

    F*ck sake.

  • briantrumpet
    briantrumpet Posts: 18,083


    Wrong thread, but cheers me up this has been resolved this morning after a phone call, and the agreed payment will be dropping into my account. I would like to think that my apology will be passed onto the person I got cross with yesterday.

  • TheBigBean
    TheBigBean Posts: 20,708

    It's a very expensive photocopying system.

    I got some things notarised recently and ended up in a discussion with notary. I was paying £100+ for his photocopy and him writing about seven words, but he wanted to stamp the photocopy with some other words. He was most aggrieved when I insisted he actually write what was required. The effort involved was clearly too much. He was a man that could just about manage to stamp stuff.

  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,867

    Yeah so you either get it done with paper by sending it to Milton Keynes or you can get a notary to stamp your PDF and do it virtually.

    It's more the additional step they've added without flagging it. I've renewed loads of dutch passports without any bother.

  • First.Aspect
    First.Aspect Posts: 14,679

    You might be able to get this done by the FCO.

    Do a Google search for "consular service documents". Ignore the sponsored list at the top and select the one above the gov.uk link. It's a company that specialises in this sort of thing.

    Fyi, likely whatever you send will also need to have been previously notarized. Not witnessed by your mate or a GP, but stamped by a notary public. Budget a couple of hundred per document for that.

  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,867

    No I know what to do. I have found it too late to get it done before the appointment that took 3 months to arrange. That is annoying.

  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,867

    Yeah the Dutch cut the number of staff who process passport applications at embassies. So it is very hard to actually get an appointment as they are fully booked all the time.

    In addition, they've created a system to book an appointment where they only release the next availability at a random time between 1 and 4pm on Monday.

    Then they've added this legalisation piece since Brexit.

    They really don't want to give me the passport.

  • TheBigBean
    TheBigBean Posts: 20,708

    Can't you get one in the Netherlands? A neighbour of mine went a passport holiday run recently.

  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,867

    Yeah, I could do. I don't really want to waste a day on holiday doing that, as my time there is already limited.

  • First.Aspect
    First.Aspect Posts: 14,679

    The FCO turn things around in about 48 hrs, and consular service companies also have notaries.

    How close is your appointment?

  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,867

    Yeah I should have checked sooner. My fault really. I hadn't expected this curveball.

  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 40,794

    Touched on a bit recently here but people willing to show off their own ignorance/ stupidity on social media. I saw something on Instagram where the person had done some light painting art. This is a pretty simple and well established technique (although this guy was on a different level). The amount of replies that it was obviously fake using Photoshop and / or AI as he wasn’t visible in the images was crazy. Firstly they all seem to think they’re the first person to say it despite the guy replying to patiently explain the process to the first person that made the comment and secondly they feel the need to comment when they have zero grasp of basic techniques (that go back to long before digital photography).

    Why are some people so unwilling to learn and instead desperate to comment / argue on something they don’t understand?

  • photonic69
    photonic69 Posts: 2,457

    Yup, surrounded by idiots! Seems there are more of them than I can imagine.


    Sometimes. Maybe. Possibly.

  • mrb123
    mrb123 Posts: 4,624

    "Castelli proves comfort doesn't have to be expensive" says Bikeradar, reviewing a £160 pair of bibshorts.

  • photonic69
    photonic69 Posts: 2,457

    Trades people that willfully drop handfuls of misc nails and screws out the back of their Transit/Vito/Vivaro/Dispatch vans and leave them scattered over the road causing countless punctures and ruined tyres. It's costly thing to fix if it can't be repaired. It's negligent and selfish.


    Sometimes. Maybe. Possibly.

  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 40,794

    People coming on the off topic part of a cycling forum to complain that people aren't discussing cycling there.

  • secretsqirrel
    secretsqirrel Posts: 1,791

    Every thing is to do with cycling:-

    • The need for more houses with cycle lane infrastructure 
    • Mini budget unfunded offering tax cuts to people who may own a bike
    • How long did it take Angela Rayner to cycle between her two homes on an old steel single speed
    • How to fit a bike rack to a cheap inflatable boat.
    • Why do boomers buy all the best bikes


  • pblakeney
    pblakeney Posts: 25,892

    While said people are trying to sell over-priced used clothing.

    The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
    I am not sure. You have no chance.
    Veronese68 wrote:
    PB is the most sensible person on here.
  • photonic69
    photonic69 Posts: 2,457

    The Goon Show. Why?

    It was of its time and that time was long ago. Been and passed. Its no longer current of even remotely funny. Most of the people that enjoyed it are probably dead or near to being so.

    Radio 4 Extra is my default station especially whilst lying in bed with Covid. Too many repeats of Goon show, Hancock Half Hour and Albert and me. All rubbish. Steptoe I can listen to but only just. The other aforementioned programs need to be deleted.


    Sometimes. Maybe. Possibly.

  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,867

    My chili tolerance is now such that even "hot" stuff sold in supermarkets isn't enough, and I am now having to store some "lazy chilies" in the office fridge to add to all my spicy dishes.

  • Noticed that the Etape Caledonia hasn't filled all its places this year, always used to be full. Maybe £100 entry for an 85m ride is putting people off?

  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,867

    Charing more than a pound a metre does seem a bit steep ;)

  • photonic69
    photonic69 Posts: 2,457

    Your name Frodo or Samwise? On your quest for a 'Ring of Fire'?


    Sometimes. Maybe. Possibly.

  • briantrumpet
    briantrumpet Posts: 18,083

    Maybe he needs to go cold turkey for a while to recalibrate his tastebuds.

    "As the TRPV1 receptor is exposed to more and more capsaicin molecules, the ion channel starts to open less and less. If the ion channel does not open, it will not create an electrical current, and does not send that pain signal to the brain.

    So people who eat spicy food their entire lives have probably done a pretty good job desensitizing the TRPV1 receptor. TRPV1 receptors can be “trained” to be desensitized to capsaicin over time and cause the person to actually perceive less burn from it. In order for desensitization to happen, the chemical element Calcium must be present. Almost every cell in our body uses calcium in some way."

  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 40,794

    He must be really unpopular in the office.