WAMT....what annoyed me today!

Noticed that I have a blown headlamp bulb. Not too bad to get the whole unit out to get at the bulb but typically I don't have a spare here! Rather than traipse out to the trading estate, I suppose it's Halfords.
 
Well I have just learnt an important lesson, do not eat your dinner at the computer desk because mayo and keyboards do not go well together
 
Keith W said:
Well I have just learnt an important lesson, do not eat your dinner at the computer desk because mayo and keyboards do not go well together
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It is very tasty on chips though :) :coat:
 
Should have started my snow clearing earlier - it's almost 6ins deep !

Car goes for servicing tomorrow so I need to be able to get her out easily. Some fool, when the gates were installed some many years ago, set them very low so they have to be opened regularly if it's snowing to ensure they will open - there's barely an ins clearance between ground and the bottom of the gates !

This is going to take some time.
 
camerassassin said:
Should have started my snow clearing earlier - it's almost 6ins deep !

Car goes for servicing tomorrow so I need to be able to get her out easily. Some fool, when the gates were installed some many years ago, set them very low so they have to be opened regularly if it's snowing to ensure they will open - there's barely an ins clearance between ground and the bottom of the gates !

This is going to take some time.
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Remove the gates. ;)
 
Not as easy as that sounds - they are electrically operated and I can't find [ from the files] who installed them. Add into that that when printed concrete was laid some years back, the cable to the gates was buried for most of the run , and I've absolutely no idea where it's connected to the household mains supply !
 
camerassassin said:
Not as easy as that sounds - they are electrically operated and I can't find [ from the files] who installed them. Add into that that when printed concrete was laid some years back, the cable to the gates was buried for most of the run , and I've absolutely no idea where it's connected to the household mains supply !
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If it's been done properly there will be an armoured cable going from the gates to the consumer unit in the house. Usually big bastud black cable. I have some for my garage door and the garage electrics. It should be connected anywhere other than the consumer unit for the house.

Might be easier to add heating elements to the gates so they just melt the snow out of the way when necessary :)
 
The external one is armoured :) - that I can see , and since I've just had a blown bulb in the light in the corridor to my fuse board , till I get a nice kind helpful neighbour to change that for me [ Arthritis and standing on step ladders is not a good combination for me ] I can't look for where the armoured cable gets to the Fuseboard OR see which fuse/s are allocated to the garage etc .

A few years back when we had some bad snow I just left the gates open . Don't like doing that though.
 
WAMT: Odd sizes for brake caliper hex screw.....Yup I've got them 'all' 8mm to 10mm....Guess which my car needs 9mm and 11mm grrrrr. They are hardly ever in a set....Got to do it next weekend now...
 
dejongj said:
WAMT: Odd sizes for brake caliper hex screw.....Yup I've got them 'all' 8mm to 10mm....Guess which my car needs 9mm and 11mm grrrrr. They are hardly ever in a set....Got to do it next weekend now...
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Is it French?
 
Finally got round to setting up new bluray player with Amazon prime video on it only to find there is bog all that's worth watching. I'm sure they had more decent stuff before.
 
Having to do a 16 hour round trip on the train for a meeting that will no doubt last less than an hour
 
Well I can see my day is going to go really well..... taxi driver turning up early by 40 minutes
 
dejongj said:
Nope German, Mercedes.
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That also explains it then - Euro metric thread sizes all use 'odd' (to me) bolt head sizes. typically German use ISO and French use DIN (or historically have done so, I expect everyone's on ISO now) As I only buy Japanese everything I deal with is JIS, unless it's had replacement bolts over here in which case they'll probably be DIN.

Metric_bolt_sizes.jpg
 
Just to update this

fabs said:
Having reported my Blue Badge as lost yesterday, my wife discovered it today. The car went in for a service mid December and it appears that they put the badge inside the service book in the glove box (it normally resides in the door pocket).
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Turned out that the badge she found was my old expired one (didn't realise it was still in the car).

So I phoned the council to let them know that I still needed a replacement and I was told they'd send out a form. What I subsequently received was a form for applying for a blue badge from scratch! I phoned them again yesterday and they confirmed that this was indeed the procedure for lost/stolen badges and I would have to go through all the rigmarole of sending in photos and copies of documents. I then did it online last night.

First thing this morning I get a phone call from a woman at the council, telling me she was confused (not surprising given that the expiry date for the current badge is 2018 and there is no field in the online application for any additional information). On confirmation that it is a replacement that I need, she tells me that I don't need to reapply, just pay the £10 admin fee and they'll fast-track it to me.

I'm in Birmingham for a conference from Monday next week and it will be a struggle without being able to use the disabled bay. She did say she'd try to get it to me in the next couple of days but I'll be totally p***ed off if I don't get it on time as it could've been sorted a lot sooner!
 
Council + DVLA and you expect them to know what the fnurkl they're doing?

Hope it gets sorted for your Brum trip, Marc.
 
Having to wait in the corridor of my local hospital for 10 hours with my 90 year old dad who was rushed into hospital, before a bed was available.
 
fabs said:
First thing this morning I get a phone call from a woman at the council, telling me she was confused
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I've found its quite easy to do that to council admin :D

Fingers crossed that it really is a fast track, and doesn't get derailed somewhere near Mentmore :D
 
The A249, Northbound from the M2 jct5 at Stockbury to Sittingbourne.
Been shut now for 10 days due to a burst water main, and now that the water has drained from underground, a SINK HOLE has opened next to the road.
The Water company say they have no idea when repairs will be complete.
Meanwhile, every single approach including the M2, A2, ....All screwed. Every night.
:mad::mad::mad:
 
Popped over to my garage today to book the car in. planned to pop inti town after but the road is shut, why you may ask, because it is a bit icy and idiots
can't drive properly, seems a couple have left the road and so it's closed until the weather warms up WTF. I had to do quite a long detour round it.
What is it with shutting roads due to adverse conditions, I've driven that road in far worse weather, seems either the powers that be are becoming over protective
or people just don't know how t drive in snow/ice
 
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They don't seem to slow down at all for snow and ice these days. Same tear arsing around as normal summer day. Then they look surprised when they end up in a ditch... shame they have to be so tail gatey and aggressive with those of us who have an ounce of common sense and don't go around at the same speed as normal summer bone dry weather :rolleyes:

WAMT: fecking windscreen washers not working on the car. No warning. Refilled thingy as fluid looked a bit low and they're still not working. Aaaarrgghhh.
 
Frozen reservoir, Suz? Or pump?
 
srichards said:
They don't seem to slow down at all for snow and ice these days. Same tear arsing around as normal summer day. Then they look surprised when they end up in a ditch... shame they have to be so tail gatey and aggressive with those of us who have an ounce of common sense and don't go around at the same speed as normal summer bone dry weather :rolleyes:

WAMT: fecking windscreen washers not working on the car. No warning. Refilled thingy as fluid looked a bit low and they're still not working. Aaaarrgghhh.
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I'm sorry if I was behind you this mornings, but honestly no need to slow down that much. :p :)
 
Nod said:
Frozen reservoir, Suz? Or pump?
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It was low initially but definitely not frozen. Probably return valves duffed or pump failed. Also found a coolant hose that was hissing and leaking slightly as well. Doing well today...
 
srichards said:
WAMT: fecking windscreen washers not working on the car. No warning. Refilled thingy as fluid looked a bit low and they're still not working. Aaaarrgghhh.
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In the past I have had problems with the jets and the tubing from the base of the jets freezing, I managed to melt the ice and used the washer jets until I got a stronger solution of screen wash through them.
 
Setting aside the poor lane discipline, lack of consideration etc of all too many drivers the thing annoyed me yet again was driivg in heavy traffic in London yesterday evening.

Since the advent of higher intensity brake lights plus the 'high' level one, all of which are an aid to road safety, I have seen a growing number of drivers who sit in traffic with their foot on the brake pedal effectively blinding the drivers behind. OK blinding is too strong a word but night vision is impacted and the lights are as noted very bright and were never intended for constant/long duration illumination.

When I was taught to drive I was told the handbrake should be used at every time the car was stationery. Plus that sitting in traffic just using the foot pedal left you at risk that if shunted from behind there was a risk that the impact could jolt your foot off the brake and then you would be pushed forward into this car ahead.

So why don't drivers control their vehicles correctly and use the handbrake when required as stipulated in the Highway Code! And for the record I have seen the same with police cars but of note none doing so were the traffic patrol cars.......levels & classes of driver methinks. I was tested years ago, when I did the IAM and RoSPA advanced courses, by Class One police drivers.
 
Box Brownie said:
Setting aside the poor lane discipline, lack of consideration etc of all too many drivers the thing annoyed me yet again was driivg in heavy traffic in London yesterday evening.

Since the advent of higher intensity brake lights plus the 'high' level one, all of which are an aid to road safety, I have seen a growing number of drivers who sit in traffic with their foot on the brake pedal effectively blinding the drivers behind. OK blinding is too strong a word but night vision is impacted and the lights are as noted very bright and were never intended for constant/long duration illumination.

When I was taught to drive I was told the handbrake should be used at every time the car was stationery. Plus that sitting in traffic just using the foot pedal left you at risk that if shunted from behind there was a risk that the impact could jolt your foot off the brake and then you would be pushed forward into this car ahead.

So why don't drivers control their vehicles correctly and use the handbrake when required as stipulated in the Highway Code! And for the record I have seen the same with police cars but of note none doing so were the traffic patrol cars.......levels & classes of driver methinks. I was tested years ago, when I did the IAM and RoSPA advanced courses, by Class One police drivers.
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If a car hits you up the rear hard enough to knock your foot off the brake pedal and into the car in front. The use of a handbrake is unlikely to prevent a similar outcome having reduced any traction the rear wheels would have had on the road.
 
nilagin said:
If a car hits you up the rear hard enough to knock your foot off the brake pedal and into the car in front. The use of a handbrake is unlikely to prevent a similar outcome having reduced any traction the rear wheels would have had on the road.
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Plus a footbrake operates on all 4 wheels rather than just 2... I always put handbrake on. If I think someone is coming up too fast then I will put the normal brakes on as well. That's why you should always leave a reasonable distance between your bonnet and the car in front.
 
Box Brownie said:
I was tested years ago,
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When drivers were more considerate and had to be able to drive, none of this ABS and god knows what else!
( Oh and the indicators used to work back then too :D )
 
Keith W said:
If you could bend your arms
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That left turn was a hell of a stretch :(
( and trying to avoid smacking your passenger around the ear at the same time :D )
 
srichards said:
Plus a footbrake operates on all 4 wheels rather than just 2... I always put handbrake on. If I think someone is coming up too fast then I will put the normal brakes on as well. That's why you should always leave a reasonable distance between your bonnet and the car in front.
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I agree......but that is using observation and mirrors and 'escape' distance. Just sitting in heavy traffic with this foot brake applied is neither :(
 
nilagin said:
If a car hits you up the rear hard enough to knock your foot off the brake pedal and into the car in front. The use of a handbrake is unlikely to prevent a similar outcome having reduced any traction the rear wheels would have had on the road.
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Sorry should having multi quoted. Fair comment but taken as well in my other reply above is all about observation and correct protocols.

Sitting with the foot brake only applied is not proper control of this vehicle. Unless there is something new is most cars that I haven't noticed. Fwiw I drive a modern 64 plate.
 
Cobra said:
When drivers were more considerate and had to be able to drive, none of this ABS and god knows what else!
( Oh and the indicators used to work back then too :D )
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Darn multi quote not working on the smartphone.

Yes, it was a while ago been driving 45 years! I learned in a Hillman Hunter and took the test in a Morris 1100.......those were days.

I wonder how many drivers back then or now as needed could correctly use cadence braking and as for hand signals. My brother bought a rusty old Morris minor 1000 and the trafficators needed a bash on the B pillar to make them pop up :lol:
 
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