Rant of the Day v2.

[Pinky the pilot]

Or Reverends coping with post-exorcism demons materialising and wresting the steering wheel from their hands....

Jimtherev to comment?

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

Occupations used to be rated, but I do not know if they still are. It was done purely on statistics from previous accidents. Teachers were quite highly rated, which surprised me, but when I became one I saw why - it was the great temptation to drive off a long distance immediately term ended. when people were deeply tired. I used to plead with my colleagues not to drive a long distance until the Saturday or Sunday, but many didn't take the advice and there were accidents pretty much every end of term, though fortunately none fatal at the schools I worked at.

[Rossian]

....I think the same was probably applied to submariners after a long trip. I know that when I surfaced after two weeks in La Sirene that I couldn't focus beyond the bonnet of my car that my mate had come to pick me up in, he drove back to his house.
As an aside when I went to have a shower I was very very "land sick" in the shower. Fortunately I didn't have to drive back here for a couple of days.
And re teachers: I successfully persuaded my son NOT to drive at term end to their camping holiday in Argeles sur mer many years ago and he has always stuck to it.

The Ancient Mariner

[OFSO]

When last in Argelès sur Mer - a few mountains north of here - it did indeed strike me how camp it was. The coastal road from Spain to there has been closed for two days due to high winds.

[llondel]

I had an argument with my insurance company many years ago. They seemed to rate engineers as high risk, so I phoned to ask WTF? Turns out it's because we go to dangerous construction sites where bad things are likely to happen. So I explained that they had this totally wrong and pointed out that I drove on properly-maintained roads, to the same place each day, with a proper car park, then walked on tarmac/concrete paths to an office building with no construction equipment anywhere near and on rare occasions when I went elsewhere it was to another similar place because my job had nothing to do with the construction industry[*]. They did drop my premium after that.

[*] I was working for a defence company at the time, so one could argue that I was working for the destruction industry.

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

So, you worked in construction sales and site prep (partial)?
I guess I did the same.

[1DC]

Insurance premiums in the UK are rising faster this year than usual, allegedly! Another month and I expect I will be ranting our two cars come together.

[jimtherev]

Or Reverends coping with post-exorcism demons materialising and wresting the steering wheel from their hands....

Jimtherev to comment?

About the only manifestations which I find disturbing are the voices from the back seat.

[ExSp33db1rd]

Mrs Exs. has just had to enter her DoB. into a website. The only option provided was todays calendar, and the only reverse arrow provided only moved the months, not the years, so it needed 1056 prods of the screen to get back to her 1937 date ! Should Life be this hard ? I hope she gets one of those “ How did we do “ follow ups, with the chance to add minus 20.

[llondel]

I hope she gets one of those “ How did we do “ follow ups, with the chance to add minus 20.

Probably done with +/- buttons starting at +10 and changing by 0.01 per click.

[ExSp33db1rd]

I’m currrently away from home, in the USA, and have replaced my NZ Sim card with a US One, which of course has a different number. I have just been advised by Apple that my number has changed and do I want to change the number on my Apple account?

Who t.f. is watching my phone on a daily basis, and what t.f. has if got to do with them ?
Big Brother ?

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

You will find that Apple has access to your entire life. You gave them permission. It's on page 1,432,879 of the user agreement.
Of course, now your phone conversations will end up stored in a government data centre in NZ, whereas when you are in NZ they are stored in Utah.

[PHXPhlyer]

Whiplash!
Over the past 2 and a half weeks the price of unleaded regular gas (87 octane) went up overnight by $0.30 ~9%, then down $0.15, and today increased by another $0.30.
Our gas comes via pipeline from So. Cal and is typically 20-25% more expensive than gas in Tucson a little over 100 miles away.
Their gas comes from a pipeline out of Texas.
Both cities are required to have a summertime blend containing 10% ethanol which also drives up the price.

PP

[G-CPTN]

Relatives left with an elderly family member still living in their own property are faced with the task of reducing the possessions so that that relative can be moved into alternative accommodation.

Apparently, common practice is to seek the services of 'house clearance' facilities, who typically charge a couple of grand and get to keep whatever is removed.

I know this because I have recently been 'done'. Two fully operational laptops with years of information 'disappeared' as well as many items of clothing (Barbour jacket and Gabardine raincoat as well as dinner suit, university blazer and two dozen ties) as well as much much more including a mountain bike and a garage full of tools (trolley jack etc etc).

I have today encountered someone whose business is such clearances who admitted that they 'make a killing' and do not hand back items of obvious value to the family of the person whose premises are cleared.

[PHXPhlyer]

Legalized theft!

PP

[G-CPTN]

Not helped by my daughter whose response has been "You won't need those where you are going!"

For months I assumed that my daughter might have been holding items of mine that I no longer have, however I have realised that these have been disposed of.

Books . . . - almost everything that I can think of that I once owned . . .

[Karearea]

He loves his own pictures and clock, his own furniture, his own kettle and fireplace, and cat. Valueless to other people, they have become a part of his inner life. Dreams of past days cling to them for him alone.
...
He is master of his goings out and comings in, and whatever is agreeable and kindly in his nature is kept alive by the intimate touch of these homely possessions. Such as they are, they are the witnesses to his life's work, and surrounded by them he still feels a man.

from chapter V, 'At the Infirmary', Lucy Bettesworth by George Sturt,
quoted in Village Diary by Miss Read

[CharlieOneSix]

I have had an American Express credit card, associated with Nectar, since 2005. At the end of every one of those 228 months I have cleared the outstanding balance in full, usually somewhere around £350, mainly for food shopping. Today I received a letter from them to say that they have increased my"Personal Rate" of interest as a review indicates a change in my circumstances which may indicate an increase in the risk that I might not be able to repay them.

I am b****y furious. I can only think this may have happened because rather than use my own savings to pay £15,000 outright for my replacement knee operation last October I took advantage of the hospital's own scheme to take out a 0% interest loan over 10 months, repaying £1500 per month from my bank account - which is nothing to do with American Express. My thinking was to use the finance company's money at 0% whilst keeping my own savings invested.

To me it is quite obvious they have looked at my credit rating file and come to the wrong decision - in other words 'Computer Says No.' The fact that they have raised my "Personal Rate" of interest from 2.28% to 2.54% per month (31% per year to 35.4% per year) will make no difference to me as I shall continue to pay off the credit card every month. Hopefully I will have calmed down by the morning when I phone them.

[G-CPTN]

For months I assumed that my daughter might have been holding items of mine that I no longer have, however I have realised that these have been disposed of.

almost everything that I can think of that I once owned . . .

Just realised that I have 'lost' a significant coin collection . . .

Thieves and robbers!

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

I have decided to shift my expectations.
I will henceforth expect nothing from government or large companies, and for small companies to be helpful but probably unable to do/have what you want more than half the time.
Fortunately, my expectations of my neighbours and nearby citizens need not change. We are all in this together still appears to be the prevailing attitude, and will help when we can.

I thus look forward to being pleasantly surprised when anything goes to plan, rather than annoyed when it doesn't.