Post a bad thing that happened in your life today

[gvallee]

11 minutes ago, Allan Bell said:

 

Hope you have not put the mockers on my car service. Just about to leave to take it in.

 

Allan

 

 

I wouldn't do that to you 😁 Good luck! At least you don't live in it if there is some delay...

 

[sb photos]

I think we have been spoilt by early updates shown in Alamy Measures, Your Images. Currently showing Last Updated on : 07 Jun 2023 10:03 GMT.

[Bryan]

On 30/05/2023 at 07:50, sb photos said:

Last night a drive that took me just over an hour outgoing took 3 hours to return in chaotic traffic. 

I'm taking the National Express coach to Leeds tomorrow, as the Trans Pennine rail service is terrible, with frequent delays and cancellations. Little wonder that the Government has brought it back under state control.  One immediate improvement - I was amazed to receive a refund after yet another cancelled service, while previously I had got nowhere with refunds. 

 

I was listening to a programme on the radio yesterday which was examining the effect of take overs of our public companies. It appears that it isn't individuals who own them, rather consortia of wealth management groups - pension funds, etc who are generally trying to make a fast profit and who fail to invest in the infrastructure and people. Hence dysfunctional  railway franchises, water companies etc. I have no particular problem with capitalism, Sainsbury's etc do a great job,  but this particular form of it needs sorting.

 

However back to the original problem, do you use your phone to check for the fastest route taking into account traffic, it's been a revelation for us when I have reluctantly to drive?

 

 

Edited June 8, 2023 by Bryan

[Mr Standfast]

20 minutes ago, Bryan said:

 

 

 

 

However back to the original problem, do you use your phone to check for the fastest route taking into account traffic, it's been a revelation for us when I have reluctantly to drive?

 

 

 

I use this:

 

https://m.highwaysengland.co.uk/

 

Enter your M-way into the flow option and you are shown the average speed between junctions.

 

Handy for traffice pictures as well.

 

[Betty LaRue]

5 hours ago, gvallee said:

Ok, I've got some minor bad news, it's more a case of experience. 

 

We're at long last ready to hit the open road again next week, so we took our bus for the standard 10,000km service before driving many thousand kms. It involves changing the oil, air and fuel filters. It's never simple to find a garage that can service our type of vehicle. Plus it's a 4x4 conversion, adding complexity to operations. Anyway, located one who accepted, dropped the bus in and took a taxi to a nearby shopping centre where we spent the day waiting. I hate this but what can we do, we live in our bus.

 

By 5pm, Uber'ed it back to garage where they're still busy underneath it. They said they won't finish tonight, we can sleep in their yard if we want, which we agreed to. Hey, zero cost accommodation. We opened the bar as usual and slept there. Next morning, the mechanic starts the engine to check something else. Shouts outside! Oil is leaking massively underneath. They think the O ring has got out of shape and damaged the new filter. They order a new filter. We wait. New filter fitted, start the engine, oil massively spills again. By then, their driveway is an oil bath. They take it out on the apprentice. Turns out it was not the garage's fault, there was a cross reference problem as to the type of filter needed. They apologize to the apprentice.

 

The worst is to sit in the bus while this is happening and hear all their conversations. Very stressful. If we had insisted leaving in the evening and bringing it back the following morning, we would not have noticed the oil leak in the dark and lost the engine. Anyway, now it's all good and we're back on the road. Phew! All in a retiree's day!

 

 

 

Disaster averted, thank your guardian Angel. Perhaps the garage should open a slip ‘n slide in the driveway to recoup the oil cost. Of course, they’d need to install a hefty shower beside with strong soap.

[sb photos]

32 minutes ago, Betty LaRue said:

Disaster averted, thank your guardian Angel. Perhaps the garage should open a slip ‘n slide in the driveway to recoup the oil cost. Of course, they’d need to install a hefty shower beside with strong soap.

Last time I saw a slip ‘n slide was on a hilly Park St in Bristol. The slide was lubricated with washing up liquid and water, so not messy. People travelled down head first on air beds. I was crouched down at the bottom photographing. Almost got hit a few times.

[Betty LaRue]

8 hours ago, sb photos said:

Last time I saw a slip ‘n slide was on a hilly Park St in Bristol. The slide was lubricated with washing up liquid and water, so not messy. People travelled down head first on air beds. I was crouched down at the bottom photographing. Almost got hit a few times.

You can buy them for kids here to use in the backyard. Hook a water hose to a long strip of plastic & kids run, flop on their bellies and slide down it.

 

Edited June 8, 2023 by Betty LaRue

[Michael Ventura]

A little bit a comedy or errors last night.  My daughter was coming back from 2 weeks in Europe and landing at Dulles Airport at 9:15 and my son went to see Buddy Guy (blues musician) at venue just 15 minutes from the airport...both needed a ride home.  So I thought this was perfect, pick them both up and home by 10!  Got to the airport as her plane was landing. Perfect!  She first came in NY so already passed customs and immigration there.  But my first mistake was missing the turn for the cell phone lot and ended up in the pay parking lane.  But as it turned out, the airline for the short flight from NY to DC, lost one of her two checked bags and that's a whole process to file a complaint to get her back sent home today (hopefully).  It was taking so long that she had me go pick up her cat, a friend was taking care of him and the friend lived not too far from Dulles.  So I get back to the airport and there were probably 30 emergency vehicles blocking the area for picking up arriving passengers....never knew what happened but managed to find my daughter, thank goodness for mobile phones!  On our way to get my son, we got to the concert venue just as the show  ended and there was SO much traffic leaving that a police officer would not let me get into the lot to collect my son, so I had to circle around until my son could locate me in traffic and run to basically jump in the car while moving at a crawl.  It was just midnight by the time I got home.  Everyone was grumpy in the car and I could not wait to get home and to bed!

[gvallee]

39 minutes ago, Michael Ventura said:

A little bit a comedy or errors last night.  My daughter was coming back from 2 weeks in Europe and landing at Dulles Airport at 9:15 and my son went to see Buddy Guy (blues musician) at venue just 15 minutes from the airport...both needed a ride home.  So I thought this was perfect, pick them both up and home by 10!  Got to the airport as her plane was landing. Perfect!  She first came in NY so already passed customs and immigration there.  But my first mistake was missing the turn for the cell phone lot and ended up in the pay parking lane.  But as it turned out, the airline for the short flight from NY to DC, lost one of her two checked bags and that's a whole process to file a complaint to get her back sent home today (hopefully).  It was taking so long that she had me go pick up her cat, a friend was taking care of him and the friend lived not too far from Dulles.  So I get back to the airport and there were probably 30 emergency vehicles blocking the area for picking up arriving passengers....never knew what happened but managed to find my daughter, thank goodness for mobile phones!  On our way to get my son, we got to the concert venue just as the show  ended and there was SO much traffic leaving that a police officer would not let me get into the lot to collect my son, so I had to circle around until my son could locate me in traffic and run to basically jump in the car while moving at a crawl.  It was just midnight by the time I got home.  Everyone was grumpy in the car and I could not wait to get home and to bed!

 

Talking out of experience, never expect things to go to plans. Expect the unexpected. Hope your daughter gets her luggage back, it's frustrating. 

[Betty LaRue]

3 hours ago, Michael Ventura said:

A little bit a comedy or errors last night.  My daughter was coming back from 2 weeks in Europe and landing at Dulles Airport at 9:15 and my son went to see Buddy Guy (blues musician) at venue just 15 minutes from the airport...both needed a ride home.  So I thought this was perfect, pick them both up and home by 10!  Got to the airport as her plane was landing. Perfect!  She first came in NY so already passed customs and immigration there.  But my first mistake was missing the turn for the cell phone lot and ended up in the pay parking lane.  But as it turned out, the airline for the short flight from NY to DC, lost one of her two checked bags and that's a whole process to file a complaint to get her back sent home today (hopefully).  It was taking so long that she had me go pick up her cat, a friend was taking care of him and the friend lived not too far from Dulles.  So I get back to the airport and there were probably 30 emergency vehicles blocking the area for picking up arriving passengers....never knew what happened but managed to find my daughter, thank goodness for mobile phones!  On our way to get my son, we got to the concert venue just as the show  ended and there was SO much traffic leaving that a police officer would not let me get into the lot to collect my son, so I had to circle around until my son could locate me in traffic and run to basically jump in the car while moving at a crawl.  It was just midnight by the time I got home.  Everyone was grumpy in the car and I could not wait to get home and to bed!

Oh, what hoops we, as parents, go through. Having grown children doesn’t change things a lot. They call, we jump. Dog sitting my son’s dog at the moment. Between two children, this is probably my 5th or 6th dog sitting gig I’ve done just this year. After my Katie passed in the late 1990s, and owning parrots, I chose not to get another dog for obvious reasons. Simplifying my life being one, lessening work & chores another. All I did was open slots for my kids’ dogs. 4-8 days at a time.

It’s not quite like having my own dog because I don’t have the food/vet bills, and I get a couple of weeks between gigs, but…..

They all did so much for me after my surgery, so I’m appreciative. Family is family, after all. My one rule is I refuse to watch 2 at the same time. Trying to keep their food separate is impossible. My son’s dog, I put out her food morning & evening, she gobbles it in 2 minutes. My daughter’s dog noshes bits of her ration all day long, so the son’s dog would eat it.  Nope, not dealing with that. 

Edited June 12, 2023 by Betty LaRue

[Cecile Marion]

On 12/06/2023 at 11:47, Michael Ventura said:

A little bit a comedy or errors last night.  My daughter was coming back from 2 weeks in Europe and landing at Dulles Airport at 9:15 and my son went to see Buddy Guy (blues musician) at venue just 15 minutes from the airport...both needed a ride home.  So I thought this was perfect, pick them both up and home by 10!  Got to the airport as her plane was landing. Perfect!  She first came in NY so already passed customs and immigration there.  But my first mistake was missing the turn for the cell phone lot and ended up in the pay parking lane.  But as it turned out, the airline for the short flight from NY to DC, lost one of her two checked bags and that's a whole process to file a complaint to get her back sent home today (hopefully).  It was taking so long that she had me go pick up her cat, a friend was taking care of him and the friend lived not too far from Dulles.  So I get back to the airport and there were probably 30 emergency vehicles blocking the area for picking up arriving passengers....never knew what happened but managed to find my daughter, thank goodness for mobile phones!  On our way to get my son, we got to the concert venue just as the show  ended and there was SO much traffic leaving that a police officer would not let me get into the lot to collect my son, so I had to circle around until my son could locate me in traffic and run to basically jump in the car while moving at a crawl.  It was just midnight by the time I got home.  Everyone was grumpy in the car and I could not wait to get home and to bed!

Hopefully your daughter has received her missing bag by now, Michael. I flew from my Florida home to Paris in March, and my checked bag missed my Atlanta connection due to various issues. Normally I wouldn’t have checked a bag, but I’ve started traveling with trekking poles which the US doesn’t allow in carryon luggage. My bag finally made it to Paris, but was promptly mislabeled and then sent back to Atlanta, a total of three times! I had an apple tag inside my bag so, whenever it was on the ground, I could see its location. It took nine days before I was finally reunited with my bag in Paris.

[Michael Ventura]

6 minutes ago, Cecile Marion said:

Hopefully your daughter has received her missing bag by now, Michael. I flew from my Florida home to Paris in March, and my checked bag missed my Atlanta connection due to various issues. Normally I wouldn’t have checked a bag, but I’ve started traveling with trekking poles which the US doesn’t allow in carryon luggage. My bag finally made it to Paris, but was promptly mislabeled and then sent back to Atlanta, a total of three times! I had an apple tag inside my bag so, whenever it was on the ground, I could see its location. It took nine days before I was finally reunited with my bag in Paris.

 

Ugh, that sounds awful Marion!  Luckily her lost bag happened coming back home and it was delivered to our home yesterday afternoon, all in good condition.

[zxzoomy]

I managed to scald my thumb on the  coffee pot. The only bright spot is that I knew to use cold water on it, not the margarine suggested 65 years ago.

[StokeCreative]

OOPS

 

Just had my first fail in 6 years...soft and lacking definition. I though that was just my physique ...

 

Whats the ban these days anyone know?

 

Hugh

[Allan Bell]

27 minutes ago, StokeCreative said:

OOPS

 

Just had my first fail in 6 years...soft and lacking definition. I though that was just my physique ...

 

Whats the ban these days anyone know?

 

Hugh

 

If it is your first fail in 6 years and you have a high QC record it may be ignored and your next upload will pass Qc within 24 - 48 hours or sooner.

 

Allan

 

[gvallee]

32 minutes ago, StokeCreative said:

OOPS

 

Just had my first fail in 6 years...soft and lacking definition. I though that was just my physique ...

 

Whats the ban these days anyone know?

 

Hugh

 

Alamy might scrutinise your next few submissions but there should not be any ban. If you're a good boy, things should go back to normal pretty quickly.

[Ed Rooney]

On 24/05/2023 at 15:34, Betty LaRue said:

Lost a family member to sudden death a couple of days ago. Last time I saw him was a month ago at another family member’s funeral. 

 

Sorry to hear that, Betty.

[Bryan]

A short while ago I lost my specs and had to go for a rapid eye test to get the specifications for a new pair. 

 

Fortunately I took advantage of the two for the price of one offer, as yesterday I Iost one of them while out walking.  I blame the transition from cold coat wearing weather to a bit of a heatwave and no pockets to store them, but you might conclude it was just carelessness !

 

So today I went back to the opticians to order a repeat prescription.  Fortunately I was able to take advantage of the 2 for 1 offer and a half price discount due to the recent prior purchase.

 

Must be more careful !  I've bought a lanyard to hang them around my neck. 

[Betty LaRue]

59 minutes ago, Bryan said:

A short while ago I lost my specs and had to go for a rapid eye test to get the specifications for a new pair. 

 

Fortunately I took advantage of the two for the price of one offer, as yesterday I Iost one of them while out walking.  I blame the transition from cold coat wearing weather to a bit of a heatwave and no pockets to store them, but you might conclude it was just carelessness !

 

So today I went back to the opticians to order a repeat prescription.  Fortunately I was able to take advantage of the 2 for 1 offer and a half price discount due to the recent prior purchase.

 

Must be more careful !  I've bought a lanyard to hang them around my neck. 

Don’t feel bad! Sometimes I hunt all over for my readers. Like tearing around, making the rounds around my house 3 times. Then discover I’ve hung them on the edge of my shirt neckline. I’m exhausted by then & mad as a wet hen at myself. I almost never hang them there, so that’s not a place I think to look.

[zxzoomy]

36 minutes ago, Betty LaRue said:

Don’t feel bad! Sometimes I hunt all over for my readers. Like tearing around, making the rounds around my house 3 times. Then discover I’ve hung them on the edge of my shirt neckline. I’m exhausted by then & mad as a wet hen at myself. I almost never hang them there, so that’s not a place I think to look.

The next tech revolution I want is that we can ring up our glasses, like mobile phones, to make a noise so we know where they are.

[Betty LaRue]

9 minutes ago, zxzoomy said:

The next tech revolution I want is that we can ring up our glasses, like mobile phones, to make a noise so we know where they are.

Great idea! You invent that, ok?

It’s demoralizing to hunt for them when they are on your own body, but you don’t recognize the fact. My daughter-in-law put hers on top of her head then forgot they were there. Makes one feel rather stupid. And me, helping her hunt for them without noticing their on her head.

That's like the blind helping the blind.

Edited June 15, 2023 by Betty LaRue

[zxzoomy]

3 minutes ago, Betty LaRue said:

Great idea! You invent that, ok?

It’s demoralizing to hunt for them when they are on your own body, but you don’t recognize the fact. My daughter-in-law put hers on top of her head then forgot they were there. Makes one feel rather stupid.

I see Orbit x Glasses plus 'Apple Find My' offers a tracker for £40 to put on glasses to find them. I'm not an Apple user so no good for me.

[sb photos]

7 hours ago, zxzoomy said:

The next tech revolution I want is that we can ring up our glasses, like mobile phones, to make a noise so we know where they are.

 

As a glasses user that removes them for closeup work such as using a computer an excellent idea. Apple AirTag's are too big and heavy. No easy solution as to be practical it would have be built into the frame.

[NYCat]

I just use drugstore glasses for reading so have a pair in every room. 

 

Paulette

[Harry Harrison]

I also try to have a cheap pair in each room, somehow they always seem to end up in the same room, but which room?