BS: Life's Little Irritations

Subject: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: DMcG
Date: 13 Nov 17 - 10:30 AM

There is a ballet company whose productions I have been watching for around 25 years. Since I moved to this area, they have visited the town about twice a year and I have seen all their productions. So in September I decided I would formally make a donation and become registered an official patron.

Next year's touring details are now out and they don't come within an hour and a half's drive each way of me so in all probability I won't be able to see them.

Life's like that sometimes.

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 13 Nov 17 - 10:36 AM

Without life's little irritations there would be no pearls.

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: meself
Date: 13 Nov 17 - 11:07 AM

Your donation probably meant that they now have just enough money that they won't have to come near your delightful community again for many a year!

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 13 Nov 17 - 01:03 PM

fleas and lice...

My mrs works with young kids and travels to work on local buses...
So we don't need to own a cat or dog to get bitten at home.
Maybe my wife needs a flea collar...???

There's also 2 local rough cider pubs we like.. great atmosphere, but the seats and carpets get infested...

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: Mr Red
Date: 14 Nov 17 - 03:28 AM

they should clean with their cider.

The fleas would get so drunk you could swat them more easily.

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 14 Nov 17 - 08:42 AM

This is not a minor irritation. This is a life-shattering step in totally the wrong direction. You will know by now, of course, that I'm referring to those "zip-lok" bags that BirdsEye have decided to put their frozen peas in. I calculate that 68% of all freezers in this country now have at least half a pound of loose frozen peas at the bottom of at least two of the drawers. The. Bags. Do. NOT. Lock. There are two ways of opening the bag, a waste of time as the bag is already open, and no way of closing it. Not only that, but the bag is made of such thick plastic that resort to a bag-tie is useless. Nothing except one of those expensive heavy-duty plastic snap-shut clips from Lakeland will do the trick. To quote Basil Fawlty, this is exactly how Nazi Germany started...

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 14 Nov 17 - 08:53 AM

And while I'm at it, snap-shut closures on shampoo bottles that invariably shoot a tiny drop of shampoo straight into your eye when you close the bottle.

God, I'm going to enjoy this thread.

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 14 Nov 17 - 09:03 AM

And Sainsbury's has stopped selling Wookey Hole cave-aged cheddar in the Bude branch. And my favourite D'Isigny creme fraiche. B*ast*ards.

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 14 Nov 17 - 09:14 AM

Tins of tomato soup with ring pull tops..

The chest of my black T Shirt looked like a gory shotgun blast wound from a Sam Peckinpah movie...

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 14 Nov 17 - 09:38 AM

We have already discussed boxer shorts with buttons, Steve.

How about TV progs on catch up not letting you skip past the adverts.

Grrrrr



DtG

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: DMcG
Date: 14 Nov 17 - 10:00 AM

I have a suspected conspiracy between Mudcat and my phone. When you type a long message the text box gets bigger but the 'Submit' stays where it is. So at a certain point you end up with your text behind the button. A few resizes and clicks and whatnot and the button goes behind the text box and you can't submit it at all. The only option then is to start again.

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: DMcG
Date: 14 Nov 17 - 10:29 AM

Picture hooks.   I have had a lot of trouble with them in the last few years. A clock we have had got ages fell of the wall and got damaged beyond repair not very long ago because the bottom of the hook decided it had had enough and just bent so that the angle at the between the back and the hook was around 120 degrees instead of around 45, so it couldn't hold anything.   The only time it gets disturbed - and this may be the cause - is when I have to take it down twice a year as the clock changes.

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: leeneia
Date: 14 Nov 17 - 12:19 PM

Hi, PUnkfolkrocker. Can you ignore the ring-pull on the tomato soup can and use an ordinary can opener around the outside rim?

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 14 Nov 17 - 12:36 PM

What and ignore all the technological progress of the 21st Century...!!!???

Ring pull soup cans are almost certainly based on Hand Grenade technology
and the risk taking of Russian Roulette...

If anything, the cans should be carbonated and pressurised to add to the thrills and nerve wracking experience of opening them... 😜

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: leeneia
Date: 14 Nov 17 - 12:37 PM

OXO Good-grips can opener can't open the small can of Frank'ssauerkraut.

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 14 Nov 17 - 12:37 PM

As Dave's around and we're discussing ring-pulls, and knowing that he works for Morrisons, I wish to register a complaint. The ring-pulls on Morrison's mackerel fillets in olive oil have a less than 50% success rate. The tins being the shape they are make it very difficult to use a bog-standard tin opener, which is all I have. Getting the fish out involves taking your life in your hands with sharp metal curling up everywhere and getting fish-scented olive oil all over yourself. Dave, I will not let this drop until you force the company to put "The Best" Nero d'Avola back on offer at five quid.

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: Michael
Date: 14 Nov 17 - 12:47 PM

In my experience, Leeneia, they can't open much.

Mike

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 14 Nov 17 - 01:12 PM

Lots of things simply don't work very well but we put up with it. There is too much bloody Velcro on my waterproof on that flap that covers the zip. It sticks to itself when I'm trying to undo the zip and it sticks to my jumper, etc. Pain in the 'arris. And don't get me started on zips with two bits at the bottom end that have to be perfectly lined up before they'll do up. My so-called "intelligent" windscreen wipers are actually as thick as pigshit, capriciously and randomly coming on full-tilt in the merest drizzle, or not coming on at all when it's peeing down, especially with big drops. And my automatic headlight setting does not turn the lights on in fog when they need to be on but insists on turning them on in low sunlight. There's a trend to make toothpaste tubes out of very thick plastic which makes it a Herculean task getting the last two doses out of it. And why are the first two or three sheets on every bog roll or roll of kitchen towels completely useless? How come boxes of tissues either tear the tissue you're trying to pull out, separate the plies of the tissue or deliver two or three when you only want one? And what bloody COMEDIAN invented the plastic swing-top bin? And what's the point of washing your hands in public bogs when you have to grab a big contaminated metal handle to get out of the toilets?

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 14 Nov 17 - 06:38 PM

And whose stupid idea was it to put fake corks made of some plasticky material in wine bottles? SCREW CAPS, you a-holes!!

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 14 Nov 17 - 06:48 PM

And how come Travelodges and Premier Inns never provide bog brushes (aka "bowies")? I'm bloody SICK of having to pour hot water into the bog along with a week's supply of that stuff they have in their soap dispensers, letting it soak and then flushing at least three times before the thing is fit for Mrs Steve. I will not submerge my hand in a lavatory. Fer chrissake give me a bloody bowie. I absolutely promise not to leave bits of dead otter clinging to it...

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: Raedwulf
Date: 14 Nov 17 - 06:52 PM

Step foot. You BLOODY WELL DO NOT 'step foot'. You take a step. Or you set foot. You might even be setting out, or stepping out. But you don't effing well 'step foot'. I realise at least as well as anyone that language evolves but that one makes no sense at all & is just ruddy ignorant. Thank you.

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 14 Nov 17 - 07:35 PM

And what about "going forward?" What's that supposed to mean? How else are we supposed to go? And what about "a raft of measures?" A raft? A load of planks tied together floating in t'cut?? I wouldn't trust a chip butty to last long on that, let alone "measures!"

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: DMcG
Date: 15 Nov 17 - 04:06 AM

Well if we are getting onto language, it is those - teachers and pedants and others - who insist on the correct collective nouns for things.


No, no, no, no.

Let's take 'a parliament of owls' as an example. It is called that, I assume, because someone someday saw a group of owls together and said to his mate that they looked as solemn as a group of members of Parliament, his mate liked the joke and passed it on, and so the joke has spread.

Or an exultation of larks. Again, someone, somewhere was moved to poetry when referring to them and it caught on.

So it is not about 'correctness'. These are moments of humanity taken into our language. So if you are moved to refer to a melody of larks or some owls are so still that you refer to a statuary of owls, great: you are open to the poetry of the thing. Unlike the flatfoot who says that is showing your ignorance and you have to use the collective noun 'parliament'.

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 15 Nov 17 - 04:14 AM

And what about "going forward?" What's that supposed to mean? How else are we supposed to go?

Going backwards; going sideways; going up; going down; going nowhere.

DC

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 15 Nov 17 - 04:37 AM

Going over; going under; going round; going left; going right; going about.

DC

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 15 Nov 17 - 05:23 AM

Going round the houses, going round in circles, going doolally tap, going ballistic, going to hell in a handcart, going commando, going green, going pee-pee (thank you, two-year-old grandson), going off half-cock, going for a long walk on a short pier, going up shit creek without a paddle, going to t'foot of our stair....

I was lampooned for weeks, nay months, by a currently-absent member of this forum for referring to a flock of grouse...

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 15 Nov 17 - 05:42 AM

Yea - It should be a flock of grease...

DtG

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: G-Force
Date: 15 Nov 17 - 06:13 AM

Nothing irritates me.   Except this:

I've got a Sanef Liber-t tag in my car which lets me use the French autoroutes without having to stop and pay at the tollbooths. Sanef collect the charges from my bank account on behalf of all the other autoroute operators. So far, so great.

Sanef also operate the Dartford crossing over the Thames estuary outside London. But can I use the tag for this? No, of course not. Or 'not yet' (but they've been saying that for ages). Now, if I'm crossing over to the wilds of East Anglia it means I'm away from home, away from my computer, and I'm too Neanderthal to have a smart phone, so I've got no simple way of paying up and avoiding a fine. So basically I don't go there.

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 15 Nov 17 - 06:34 AM

Nothing irritates me either, as I have abundantly demonstrated so far in this thread.

Except for those bloody labels stitched just below the back collars of my shirts. They serve no purpose, not even to advertise the brand except to me when I take the shirt out of the wardrobe, and what's the point of advertising it to me when I've already bought it? No-one else ever sees it. They itch like mad but are next to the impossible to remove completely without damaging the shirt. If you cut it as close as possible to the shirt material you end up with two razor-like edges that make the situation even worse. I mean, what is the bloody POINT!

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: DMcG
Date: 15 Nov 17 - 06:41 AM

I am in the fortunate position that my wife has been making all my shirts for the past two years or so. And she makes them the right length: so many of the older bought ones have kept the length to a minimum (it saves material so more profit, you know) with the result that they are forever having to be tucked back in.

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 15 Nov 17 - 07:40 AM

I only possess short-sleeved shirts and I never tuck them in, nor do I wear ties. Interestingly, I've found that my shirts fit me better, length-wise, than they used to. This is because, due to the loss of the discs in my lumbar spine, I've lost two inches in height. The loss has been upper body only. I'm probably going to end up all dumpy with skinny legs like a robin, but at least my shirts are a good length!

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: DMcG
Date: 15 Nov 17 - 09:23 AM

Ok, this one is pure snobbishness. People can live their lives how they choose and it is nothing to do with me.

Still ...

A relative has wanted to go to Cuba for a long time, has been saving for three years and is there now. She is staying in a beach resort which is almost indistinguishable from such resorts anywhere in the world and has just facebooked that she had a great Japanese teppanyaki last night.

What are you doing? You seem to be doing all you can to avoid Cuba!

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: Charmion
Date: 15 Nov 17 - 10:42 AM

So far, so male -- and Brit.

You know what gets up my (female, Canadian) nose? Stink.

We moved from the Big City, where the most offensive stink I encountered in a day was the diesel from the three (count 'em! Three!) bus routes on the street in front of our house. Clouds of bus exhaust billowed from the stack of the Number One Rockcliffe, stopped below our kitchen window, and blew all over the clean dish towels. So we moved to a little country town, all clean air and blue skies.

Ya think? Well, ha-ha, fooled me. Perth County is apparently the heart of Ontario pig farming, and the air of Stratford positively vibrates with the proof. Whenever the ceiling (cloud cover) is low and the humidity high, we have Agricultural Awareness Day as the ferocious odor of porcine excrement permeates every corner of the county. I flee indoors and slam the windows, but it's no joke in hot weather for people without air-conditioning.

It's zero comfort to be told that life down-wind of massive chicken operations is worse ...

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 15 Nov 17 - 10:53 AM

Well I live close to an intensive pig farm AND a huge chicken enterprise, neither within sight but definitely within smell if conditions are wrong. With humidity and a light easterly breeze the pigshit pong permeates everything, including washing hung up indoors. The chicken farm in itself doesn't smell too much, but the several-times-a-year spreading on the fields of the chicken shit is sickening. The two aromas are as bad as each other, though very different in nature, and I wouldn't like to distinguish which is worse. I suppose that when the pigshit smell is at its peak it permits one to fart silently with gay abandon, nil chance of being pinpointed. There's at least some good even in the very bad (except for Nigel Farage).

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 17 Nov 17 - 03:41 AM

He is certainly more than a little irritation!

:D tG

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: Raedwulf
Date: 17 Nov 17 - 12:34 PM

As an inhabitant of the wilds of East Anglia (G-Force, we appreciate your sacrifice ;-) ), I can delightedly not comment on the subject of wafting scents - 99% of the farming round here is arable, not livestock! But I did laugh out loud at a couple of the recent posts (Steve - dumpy? You're starting to sound like Humpty Dumpty - don't go sitting on any walls! ;-) )

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 17 Nov 17 - 12:58 PM

The thing is I've been bragging about how I managed to lose weight. But I've stayed the same weight now for a good while, yet I'm getting shorter. Can you see where I'm coming from here...?

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: DMcG
Date: 17 Nov 17 - 03:01 PM

So your BMI is increasing even though your proportion of fat to lean hasn't altered. More evidence it is at heart pseudoscience!

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 17 Nov 17 - 03:09 PM

I'll take comfort from that. I think... 😳

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: Raedwulf
Date: 17 Nov 17 - 04:36 PM

Mmmmm.... If you live long enough, you'll turn into a black hole? ;-)

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 18 Nov 17 - 09:06 AM

It was very irritating when Sainsburys delivered 2 jars of Dulce de Leche last month having ordered and been charged for 3 jars (?7.50).

However, when my wife called customer service, she was given a refund of ?5, so in the end it only cost us ?2.50 for 2 jars which is most satisfactory!!

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 18 Nov 17 - 10:09 AM

A couple of weeks ago I scoured all the supermarkets for dulce de leche (including a massive Sainsbury's), having previously never heard of it but then having seen Jamie Oliver using it in a cake on the telly, and couldn't find it anywhere. I was assured that Carnation tinned caramel is the same thing so I bought a tin of that. It better had be the same, otherwise I'm going to be minorly irritated!

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 18 Nov 17 - 12:58 PM

I think it's similar, but Sainsburys on line definitely now has dulce de leche which I have with Swedish Glace vanilla ice cream.

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 18 Nov 17 - 01:02 PM

Dulce de leche from Sainsburys

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 18 Nov 17 - 04:17 PM

As far as I can make out, tbe difference between caramel and dulce de leche is that caramel is sugar and water and dulce de leche is sugar and milk, which is what the Carnation is. I'm going to risk using it in my banoffee!

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: DMcG
Date: 19 Nov 17 - 03:04 AM

No one needs to be told that I am not, shall we say, over-concerned with typos and grammar in informal posts. But I do think that notices and signs where a business or organisation is presenting a professional image needs a higher standard.

So I was somewhere selling flowers yesterday. It grates, but I am used to such places selling flower's instead. But selling flower,s is surely going too far.

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 19 Nov 17 - 07:02 AM

Ten items or less.

Mens toilet

Ladies toilet

Unexpected item in bagging area

Have you swiped your Nectar card? (No, I acquired it honestly)

This door is alarmed

Saw a sIgn at the top of the escalator that said "Dogs must be carried." I couldn't use it. I didn't have a dog.

In car parks, pay machines that say "this machine does not give change." Should be illegal!

Car park tickets that say "not transferable." That's immoral and should also be illegal. I paid for that space for a certain amount of time and I don't see why I can't pass on the residue!

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: lefthanded guitar
Date: 19 Nov 17 - 09:32 PM

Everything breaks nowadays. Nothing I buy seems to last. We've ben aware of our disposable culture for some time but I still find everything is breaking down faster than it ever used to. And you can't replace it because it s gone obsolete two weeks before your item crashes. Here are some of the things that I ve bought in recent years, often recent months, that no longer function:

My tv remote. And my other tv remote.
My scale.
My computer.
My cutting board ( they don't seem to sell real wood ones either,
   It's either bamboo or composite)
My kitchen general use.l cutting knife.
My mop(!!!)
One of my cameras. Granted it s just a point and shoot I ve used as
a spare backup - but it 's a Nikon - shouldn't it last two years? ( btw I
have an ancient Kodak brownie that I acquired just to sit on my shelf
as a conversation piece - still works)
My digital recorder , not broken yet, but....ailing.
My digital clock.
The zipper on my year old jacket.

And although this doesn't sound like a big thing, today I busted
a guitar string just from strumming my guitar.Martin strings. I ve been
playing guitar for a long long time and I ve never had that happen before.

Like I say-everything breaks now- fine quality and craftsmanship and durability has gone the way of the dinosaur, the dodo bird, and the Kodak brownie.

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 20 Nov 17 - 05:59 AM

I got through three of those Panasonic TZ model cameras in five years. Admittedly, I dropped one and the screen broke. To get the screen repaired would have cost me ten quid less then buying a replacement camera, and to claim on my accidental damage cover would have cost me a fifty quid excess plus the loss of my no-claims discount. Very irritating. The other two suffered from the same problem: the partial vacuum generated behind the lens as it popped out when switching on sucks in air from outside, along with tiny dust particles. So I had dust sitting on the sensor which appeared as spots on every photo. You can sort of move the dust around by various means but you can't get rid of it unless you do an almost impossible dismantling and reassembling job. Extremely irritating. I gave up on them and bought a Canon Ixus 235 instead. After a couple of years, same issue! I then bought an Ixus 265HS which I love, but the iris has gone all irritatingly sticky on me and I have to check thst it's fully open before snapping. I now have an Ixus 285HS which I also love. I must have some optical zoom, though I must admit that my iPhone 6S takes great pics. The latest Ixus jobs have wi-fi, meaning I can transfer my photos straight on to my iPad (using the very clunky and irritating Canon app). They're also small enough to shove in my pocket. This list is full of minor irritations described, though lugging a big camera round my neck would be an irritation too far. Won't do it!

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 20 Nov 17 - 06:07 AM

He Steve - Discovered the joys of Asda underpants yesterday. Don't tell Morrisons. Decided to try the hipster trunks which have no buttons. Trouble is they have no hole at the front either but they are very comfy.

I am a bit worried though. Seeing as they are hipster trunks do I have to grow a big beard, wear check shirts and drink craft beers?

DtG

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 20 Nov 17 - 06:34 AM

I am an aficionado of the Asda underpant. Dunno whether it's still five boxers for eight quid though. Irritatingly, I seem to need XL despite my petite self-image. I used to cut the button off but now I keep it and leave it undone. I find the button comes in handy when I'm lounging around in just boxer shorts in the company of women. The beast may well be asleep but it pays to ensure, especially when leaning forward, that the slumbering giant can't be viewed through an open cage door...

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 20 Nov 17 - 06:58 AM

I may have been lucky, but I'm still using my Fuji Finepix HS10 camera which I bought in December 2011, and apart from some of the silkscreened letters wearing off, I've had no problems whatsoever!

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 20 Nov 17 - 09:11 AM

Obstinate old buggers who get threads closed
because they can't restrain themselves from relentlessly arguing petty points of principle just for the sake of it...

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 20 Nov 17 - 09:17 AM

Goose-stepping posters who try to tell members what they can and can't post because it doesn't appear to be important to them
Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: Charmion
Date: 20 Nov 17 - 09:24 AM

As you say, punk ...

Plaster dust and chips of drywall.

The mess and d?bris left by even the most conscientious of builders, and their casual appropriation of household cleaning equipment.

We used to have three dustpans, two brooms and two recycling bins, but we now have two dustpans, one broom and one recycling bin after Tony the carpenter grabbed our tools to clear up some of the ferocious mess generated by the combined efforts of the plumber and a brace of apprentice electricians. Once a broom or brush has been used to sweep plaster dust, it will always leave behind more mess than it clears. As for the recycling bin, which was brand new, I believe that it has found a final resting place at the Perth County landfill site.

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 20 Nov 17 - 09:28 AM

People who argue for arguments sake :-)

DtG

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 20 Nov 17 - 12:01 PM

Fake plastic "corks" in bottles of wine. Morrisons' refusal to put its Nero d'Avola back down to five quid. Those little tearoff strips which are the exact same colour as the rest of the foil cap on Prosecco bottles.

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 20 Nov 17 - 01:19 PM

Local authority / utilities/ BT/ etc/ customer service & officials who agree to do something then don't.... 😣

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: G-Force
Date: 20 Nov 17 - 01:21 PM

What's wrong with plastic corks? At least the wine won't be corked.

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 20 Nov 17 - 01:46 PM

It won't be corked but it can and does get oxidised unless the thing is a perfect fit. Not only that, they can be the devil to get out and don't form an effective reseal. Screwcaps every time!


(Or at least real corks....I'll take the risk. At one time you never knew what the wine with corks was going to taste like. These days a corked bottle is a rarity. I've hardly ever had a corked Spanish bottle. Spain needs to look after its cork industry and they seem to know how it's done!)

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 20 Nov 17 - 03:21 PM

I'll try my best, Steve :-)

D.

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 20 Nov 17 - 08:03 PM

Bloody Morrisons (sorry, Dave!). Sent me an email two weeks ago promising me 5000 extra points for clicking on a link. Clicked on the link, never got me points. Customer Services in the Bude shop "couldn't do nuffink abaht it, gotta write the head office yeah?" Twats. I'd bought five bottles of six-quid Nero d'Avola on the strength of getting that five quid voucher so that I'd be getting them for a fiver in effect. The only reason I'm not going all apocalyptic about this massive injustice is that the wine is actually bloody good. It's not what you know, it's who you know. And I know Dave...

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: Raedwulf
Date: 21 Nov 17 - 03:39 PM

This door is alarmed

Saw a sIgn at the top of the escalator that said "Dogs must be carried." I couldn't use it. I didn't have a dog.

There was an English composer a few years ago who composed a piece based on the phrase "These buildings are alarmed". It was atonal crap, frankly. As for the latter, the only reason this isn't a Roman joke is cos they never invented escalators. How old are you again, Mr Fogey? I'm sure this one dates to the Goons (or possibly Flanders & Swann; that era, anyway) at least! ;-)

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: Donuel
Date: 22 Nov 17 - 06:40 AM

Remember the dial up internet? The delay in all things became a distraction. Well with the Trump FCC vote in about two weeks net neutrality supported by Obama will probably be reversed.

Affluent households will pay more to maintain thier current speed. Sites like Mudcat will have to do the same but the increase in cost is unknown to me. Mega corporations will get the eight lane internet highways and Mudcat in comparison will get the neighborhood lanes.

Will exceptions be made for educational sites? Nope, all advantage goes to commercial enterprises of extreme size.

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 22 Nov 17 - 06:56 PM

Here's a bloody serious little irritation. "Ripe and ready." I bought a pack of four pears from Morrisons last Saturday that were supposedly "ripe and ready." Still bloody rock-hard and it's Wednesday. Yesterday I bought a two-pack of ripe 'n' ready avocados from Sainsbury's. Tonight, when I wanted 'em for avocado with prawns and Delia's seafood sauce - yes, you've guessed it - bloody rock-hard. I pay more for this tackle. The absolute bastards.

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: banjoman
Date: 23 Nov 17 - 05:19 AM

Garages and supermarkets who advertise their petrol prices as something .9. Why cant they be honest and advertise the price they will really charge you. Unless I buy 10 Litres I am charged a false price.

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 23 Nov 17 - 05:28 AM

There's something refreshing about the way you get charged honest round pounds in pound shops. Just don't forget to take your own carrier bags, though, as having to pay 5p for one completely ruins the aesthetic simple beauty of the transaction!

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 23 Nov 17 - 09:49 AM

Pound shops....

The main irritation used to be the long queues to the check out tills,
which occasionally meant waiting, getting impatient, giving up,
then putting that one indulgent spur of the moment novelty bargain back on the nearest shelf..
But on the plus side, leaving the shop with your quid still intact in your pocket..

Now our local has installed self-service check outs for 'efficiency'.
Major pain in the arse waiting in line while everyone tries to work out how to use them
under the stern intimidating watchful eye of the security enforcers.

Of course, when it's my turn the check out scanner always screeches an alert calling for a supervisor, because the reduced price Blu-Rays are at least a "15" certificate;
and I must wait for a compulsory age check by a superviser.
Which defeats the purpose of having a member of staff serve behind a till,
and takes even longer, creating even more irritation....

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 23 Nov 17 - 09:51 AM

errrmmmm... "Which defeats the purpose of not having a member of staff serve behind a till"

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 23 Nov 17 - 10:59 AM

Yep, I've noticed that too...

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: BobL
Date: 24 Nov 17 - 03:13 AM

If you pay by (your own) card you must be 18 at least. If you don't, they should be able to scan your bus pass / driving licence. Room for improvement there.

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 24 Nov 17 - 04:11 AM

It's a pound shop - essentially a place for getting rid of £1 coins;
and those annoying new plastic fivers and tenners
before they spring out your pocket and get lost forever.....

Though, I heard rumours that some more up-market pound shops may now be accepting credit cards...

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 24 Nov 17 - 05:24 AM

Standing up meetings! WTF is that all about? Noticed at work of late that a group of people stand in a circle every day in the atrium between the offices and the canteen and talk about work. What sort of twisted knobhead would come up with that kind of torture?

While on the subject of people meeting. Not necessarily at work but anywhere. Why do they stand and chat in corridors, supermarket aisles, doorways and anywhere that makes it most difficult for anyone else to get past. Then glare at you when you have the temerity to say 'excuse me please'!

Grrrr.

:D tG

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 24 Nov 17 - 09:44 AM

That's a bad one in our Morrisons, Dave (I know how you love feedback). I don't want to sound ageist, but there are a lot of old people in this jolly little seaside town of ours. Typically, two or three will enter the store, slowly of course, meet another two or three just inside, start having a natter about their operations and completely deny access to the ravening Black Five Days hordes behind.

Then you get people who block the whole aisle with their trolley by parking it sideways on...

And why won't half the scanners at the tills take my Morrisons More key fob? Huh?

Yes, Dave, Black Five Days. A little irritation. Though I might just nip in for a case of that very nice six-for-thirty-quid Prosecco later on. If I can actually get into the shop, that is...

Just don't get me started on B&M...

Subject: RE: BS: Life's Little Irritations
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 24 Nov 17 - 02:09 PM

Got the fizz, Dave. Vina Sol two for ten quid an' all. Nirvana! 10p off my next tankful and another 5000 points earned! The one remaining little irritation is the fact that Morrisons is, deep down, a bunch of tykes!