Ops-Normal.org

Ring on our doorbell. Bunch of French spotted smoke coming up from ravine next to our house, they were fetching buckets of water. Just on edge of road. I suspect cigarette. I joined in with water, fire now out.
Another possibility is sparks from overhead power lines, which are never inspected. Can't see any...

Double Car Rant

Took my BMW in to have the turbo controller replaced. Intermittent error codes with no real affect becoming more mittent.
Had repair cost quoted and took it in, supposed to be one hour labor. They had it all day and called at the end of the day to tell me that not only had the repair not been completed but the repair would cost would be more than double the quoted price.
Seems that the replacement part had been updated over the original part that would require the ECM to be reprogrammed with the reprogramming being a significant part of the new price. They have to call in specialist company to do the reprogramming and said that I was still doing better that going to the dealership.
This shop I trust but it is still frustrating.

#2

D#2's new to her car's key fobs (switchblade key with buttons on the fob) were both missing most of the buttons when handed over by the previous owner. Key unlocks and starts the car ok, just missing the convenience functions of the buttons and , for my daughter, the panic button.
A guy I found on a social media app (NextDoor) said that he could just replace the shells with the buttons and keep the guts and the key for much less than the cost of one key fob.. Took them to him this morning and after an hour of trying by him and his brother/business partner they threw up their hands in surrender. It seems that the shells they were trying to use were incompatible with mine and the only solution was new ones at triple the price of their original quote.

If that weren't enough the insurance on both cars is due today at a substantial price increase and I spent much of yesterday and today seeking better quotes.
Not much luck so far.

PP

Mustbe the heat

Car Insurance

Found a quote that was better coverage and less cost than my current expiring insurance.
So far so good...but when I called to close the deal I was informed that the premium for six months would be $170 more than quoted.
Reason?
The company asked about any accidents, claims, or tickets in the last five years.
Agent on phone advised that my record showed an accident six years and nine months ago and that they used a seven year lookback in my state.
Also they said that replacing my windshield under their "special glass policy" counted as a claim as well, just not as much against the rates.
Even with the claim penalty I came out ahead compared to my old company.

pp

PHXP, now you understand why all the largest office buildings in any city are owned by insurance companies.

Probably hot coals from a passing steam locomotive.

Now we're all having a go at Natwest...

Some months ago an I/c transfer to my NatWest account was deemed suspicious. They rang me. "Where's it coming from, this Lombards, eh? " I asked the coarsely spoken youth if he'd ever heard of Lombards. Nah. Lombards of Luxemburg? Nah. Huge insurers? Nah. How long have you worked for NatWest? Six months. And you've never heard of Lombards? Nah.

Bank of Scotland injected yet more unsolicited mail into my overburdened inbox today, Friday:

Your latest credit card statement will be online soon.

Untrammelled excitement was soon dashed by a codicil:

If it isn’t there right away, it will be within 2 working days.

Hmm, so maybe the statement is accessible, or maybe not. Try checking next Tuesday/Wednesday.

Or download the absolute bullet-proof, never to be compromised app and get a real notification (possibly).

Surely there is a modicum of competence left in the IT department that could link the script generating these noise level "notifications" with the batch job that actually generates the statements?

Not holding my breath.

Nationwide went paperless with my credit card statements about two years ago. All was fine then they changed their security or something and their emails with the statement apparently couldn't be sent to my email address which used my personal domain name. It must be me, they said, or your ISP is rejecting the emails. Try using gmail or hotmail they said!!!!!

I did all the usual checks, contacted the ISP, made sure the Nationwide email address was whitelisted with them, etc etc, all to no avail. So every month they send me the same letter saying they couldn't get their emails through to me, suggest I check this that and the other, maybe try gmail or hotmail......I've given up!

I see police cars of the BMW flavour have been blowing up on a regular basis. BMW say it's the way British police drive them. (BBC).

Visited Louth this morning - lovely warm and pleasant day - and called in at a supermarket to pick up a couple of things. Noticed a dog constantly barking in a parked car with all its windows shut. When I came out of the shop a few people were gathered round the car. One lady had phoned the police who had actually turned up. No sign of the driver. How many times do folks have to be told of the dangers of leaving animals unattended in unventilated cars?

4mastacker wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 28, 2023 2:56 pm

Visited Louth this morning - lovely warm and pleasant day - and called in at a supermarket to pick up a couple of things. Noticed a dog constantly barking in a parked car with all its windows shut. When I came out of the shop a few people were gathered round the car. One lady had phoned the police who had actually turned up. No sign of the driver. How many times do folks have to be told of the dangers of leaving animals unattended in unventilated cars?

If that happens here the driver is likely to find his window broken by the police and the dog retrieved, and to cop a hefty fine.

For a while, we had a spate of cases of children being left locked in cars (including a couple of deaths) while parents were playing the poker machines in clubs or casinos.

Lawn tractor keeps stopping - float valve needle sticks.
Replacement from tractor manufacturer (John Deere) is also made of plastic and nylon, out of stock but can pick up Tuesday, $27.

But...

Replacement direct from engine manufacturer (Briggs and Stratton) is correctly made of brass and rubber, delivered to my door Tuesday, $21.
And guess what...it doesn't stick.

John Deere was already on my 'Little List'.

Actually, it's not that Little these days.

John Deere are on a lot of farmers' "little lists" here. Apparently, any repairs and service on their modern big machines must be done by their agent. That may be fine where you have reasonably sized towns close together, and an agent isn't more than a couple of hours drive away, but here, it may be a day's drive from the front gate to the back paddock, and our farmers are used to fixing anything fixable with fencing wire and bailing twine. If you're trying to get a harvest in before the rain and the guy who can do a repair is a couple of days away, it becomes pretty expensive.

I was discussing the big John Deere stuff with a local farmer just a few days ago.
Apparently, they are equally unhappy with the product.
However, the repair guys can turn up within the hour (I have seen this myself one harvest I did), and the competition can be just as bad.
I live in the most densely populated Canadian Province, which is still The Outer Darkness to anyone in Europe, though packed like sardines compared to some bits of Oz.

p.s. Is there a World Record for disassembling a carburettor float bowl and reassembling in the field? I think I may now be the holder. I've done it about a dozen times.

^I may hold the record for the number of pieces left over!

So handy for the subsequent repair job - it pays to be well prepared

OFSO wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 28, 2023 2:54 pm

I see police cars of the BMW flavour have been blowing up on a regular basis. BMW say it's the way British police drive them. (BBC).

Perhaps they are properly trained police drivers who operate the indicator switch.

UK Financial Org. Name withheld to avoid prosecution. Advised them of my new address when I moved 2 years ago, but they refused to accept it until I'd sent them a local J.P. countersigned copy of an invoice sent to my new address, to prove that I was telling them the truth - after all, I do lie when I'm asking people to send mail to my new address, otherwise why bother, they could just send to my old address if I didn't want to hear from them.

Over the past 2 years they sent me four more same requests, all sent correctly to my new address. I finally gave in and re-sent their fourth request, along with a note to close my account as a direct result of my dissatisfaction with their service, and to send the funds to my NatWest a/c in the UK, which they had information of, 'cos they have sent 6 monthly interest payments to that a/c for the past 40 years or so.

I recently got a letter dated 19th June, acknowledging closing my account and crediting me with a stated total income sent to Natwest. The money is not yet showing in my account, some 5 weeks ago as I write. Two days ago I got a letter dated 3 weeks after the letter advising my of the account closure, asking for a fifth verified evidence of my address - why do they need this if they have closed my account ? My address is xxxx Drive. The letter was addressed to xxxx DIVE.

I am now faced with listening to Beethovens Fifth for a couple of hours at International phone rates, as I attempt to talk to someone. Writing and receiving a reply has always taken about a month, so is not an option now, I want to know where my money is.

Just heard from a UK friend with a similar problem who attended his banks' nearest local branch, as is often the instruction. At the branch he was told that they couldn't deal with his problem in person, but to do it Online.

One could weep.

"Name withheld to avoid prosecution." Why would anyone 'prosecute' you for that post?