Insignificant/ Significant things that BYP or just wind you up a little

[Count Steer]

Used to see them in some French seaside places trying to get scrounge enough food to recharge and tackle the Channel and get home if they'd hit bad weather and couldn't get across first go.

Pretty amazing athletes.

Can't they just get a small boat like everyone else?




In seriousness, we had one land in the garage in Wales. There was a phone number (throw a towel over the bird to catch it). Turned out to be from Ireland.
The guy actually said to wring it's neck...!!!.... we fed it and watered it for a couple of days and chucked it out before the cats got it.


It never wrote and thanked us, or even called.

Yeah. That's pretty typical if the bird hasn't won them any money - they have to pay the cost of the bird being sent back and shifting livestock about is a bit (It used to be you'd put 'em in a suitable box with food and water, take them to a railway station and they'd travel in the guard's van to the destination where the owner collected. The guards would often feed them on the way. There's a few stories of them getting out and flapping around in the guards van). Fortunately, unlike wood pigeons, they're usually used to being handled - getting race rings on and off, dosing them, moving them around for pairing them up etc.

Quite often, when you release them on a weekend they'll latch onto a passing group that's in a race and pitch up at another loft.

It used to be the working man's equivalent of hoss racing (who's the best breeder, trainer, who has the best 'eye' for a winner etc) but, as ever, big money got involved eg the South African 'one loft' races...$2 million+ prize money... and things change...not for the better.

My Dad was pretty good at the breeding/training thing. One of his won the biggest UK race...the National Combine which pitted everyone that raced a particular direction (you train them to race a particular direction rather than send them off in random directions). I've got the studio photo of the bird - 'Big Red'. Dad got a half page obit in the 'pigeon papers' - bit of a legend in a smallish world.

[gremlin]

Having to pay £422 to insure my car for a year. FFS, I'm 53 and it's a dull-as-dishwater Toyota.

[Greenman]

Having to pay £422 to insure my car for a year. FFS, I'm 53 and it's a dull-as-dishwater Toyota.

I only pay that for my Modified Golf GTI in one of the worst postcodes in Bristol, however, i have just got a renewal and it going up £200 to about £630.

I'm going to quiz them later today as to why!

Give them a call and tell them you have got a quote elsewhere and you are happy to pay your previous years renewal price, tis what i shall do if they cannot give me a decent enough excuse as to why it's gone up 25%.

[Rockburner]

Having to pay £422 to insure my car for a year. FFS, I'm 53 and it's a dull-as-dishwater Toyota.

Greater risk of health-related issues now you're old.

[gremlin]

Having to pay £422 to insure my car for a year. FFS, I'm 53 and it's a dull-as-dishwater Toyota.

I only pay that for my Modified Golf GTI in one of the worst postcodes in Bristol, however, i have just got a renewal and it going up £200 to about £630.

I'm going to quiz them later today as to why!

Give them a call and tell them you have got a quote elsewhere and you are happy to pay your previous years renewal price, tis what i shall do if they cannot give me a decent enough excuse as to why it's gone up 25%.

The renewal email was great. 'Last year you paid £258. This year we're pleased to let you know it's £558'.

Well, I'm glad you're pleased, coz I ain't! Obviously told them to do one, but two comparison sites later and it's fairly obvious that £422 was the cheapest I was going to find.

I'm not the only one, mind: https://news.sky.com/story/why-has-the- ... h-12910284

[KungFooBob]

The wife and I are on a multicar policy.

Two people, two cars... 2014 SL350, 2019 S90.

Last year it was just over £600, this year the renewal came in at just over a grand. A phone call got it down to 960.

I've done dozens of online quotes and nothing is getting close to the £960, the world's gone mad.

[MingtheMerciless]

I was listening to something on the radio about this the other day, apparently the lead time on parts mean that people are having hire cars for much longer so that is contributing to the repair costs considerably. I should also mention that when our X Trail was repaired a few years ago after a young driver hit it, the company doing the repairs also repaired another self inflicted set of scratches and kerbing whilst doing the insurance job and apologised for the difference in costs between the what they were charging for the claim and what they charged us. We got two alloy wheels repaired and repainted for about 1/2 what they charged the insurance company for the other two wheels! The whole insurance claim businesses just a huge excuse to gouge the costs and overcharge.

[gremlin]

There's a very active market for barely damaged body panels, due to insurance-approved repair shops simply replacing panels rather than repairing. All goes towards keeping our premiums high....

[KungFooBob]

I hand washed my own car for the first time a few weeks back. I usually let the nice forin chaps do it.

I was quite surprised just how much of it was plastic, the bonnet and the windscreen pillars seemed to be the only metal bits!

[David]

Can't they just get a small boat like everyone else?




In seriousness, we had one land in the garage in Wales. There was a phone number (throw a towel over the bird to catch it). Turned out to be from Ireland.
The guy actually said to wring it's neck...!!!.... we fed it and watered it for a couple of days and chucked it out before the cats got it.


It never wrote and thanked us, or even called.

Yeah. That's pretty typical if the bird hasn't won them any money - they have to pay the cost of the bird being sent back and shifting livestock about is a bit (It used to be you'd put 'em in a suitable box with food and water, take them to a railway station and they'd travel in the guard's van to the destination where the owner collected. The guards would often feed them on the way. There's a few stories of them getting out and flapping around in the guards van). Fortunately, unlike wood pigeons, they're usually used to being handled - getting race rings on and off, dosing them, moving them around for pairing them up etc.

Quite often, when you release them on a weekend they'll latch onto a passing group that's in a race and pitch up at another loft.

It used to be the working man's equivalent of hoss racing (who's the best breeder, trainer, who has the best 'eye' for a winner etc) but, as ever, big money got involved eg the South African 'one loft' races...$2 million+ prize money... and things change...not for the better.

My Dad was pretty good at the breeding/training thing. One of his won the biggest UK race...the National Combine which pitted everyone that raced a particular direction (you train them to race a particular direction rather than send them off in random directions). I've got the studio photo of the bird - 'Big Red'. Dad got a half page obit in the 'pigeon papers' - bit of a legend in a smallish world.

One of the high lights (?) of travelling the Wyrley and Essington canal in the '90's was the patch with a pigeon loft in every garden....

[Wossname]

Must have or must've. Never must of.

Bored with...never bored of...

Really? That's a mute point ...

Shhh…

[Greenman]

Having to pay £422 to insure my car for a year. FFS, I'm 53 and it's a dull-as-dishwater Toyota.

I only pay that for my Modified Golf GTI in one of the worst postcodes in Bristol, however, i have just got a renewal and it going up £200 to about £630.

I'm going to quiz them later today as to why!

Give them a call and tell them you have got a quote elsewhere and you are happy to pay your previous years renewal price, tis what i shall do if they cannot give me a decent enough excuse as to why it's gone up 25%.

The renewal email was great. 'Last year you paid £258. This year we're pleased to let you know it's £558'.

Well, I'm glad you're pleased, coz I ain't! Obviously told them to do one, but two comparison sites later and it's fairly obvious that £422 was the cheapest I was going to find.

I'm not the only one, mind: https://news.sky.com/story/why-has-the- ... h-12910284

I found this too, couldn't find it cheaper anywhere, but still worth trying it on with these greedy insurance companies.

[Cousin Jack]

The whole insurance claim businesses just a huge excuse to gouge the costs and overcharge.

Not just motor insurance. I had 3 slates off that I needed fixing. They came off in a storm, my insurance covers storm damage with only a £25 excess. Fixing the slates ought to cost £100- £150.

2 surveyors, 2 scaffolding crews, and 2 roof fixers later they were fixed, at a cost I estimate was well over £1000, possibly 3x that.

[DefTrap]

Add hire-car-excess insurance too. 220 quid (and this wasn't even recently) for a puncture on an Astra. Even if they had to replace the tyre (and I doubt it because it wasn't in the sidewall) it seemed rather rich. They didn't even have to recover it.

[Noggin]

I hitched a lift down to Bourg this morning, earlier than I needed to just in case it took longer to get a lift! Had an appointment booked for a scan on a 'bobbly' vein at 11.20.

Got to Bourg at about 9.30, sat and had a couple of coffees in the sun then wandered up to the hospital about 50 mins early. Checked in with the receptionist and waited. I didn't expect to go in early but another receptionist called me back to the office after 40 mins and asked why I was still waiting and what my appointment was for

Turns out that I can't get that scan in Bourg hospital, I have to go to Albertville hospital - that's a bit more difficult to get to with no transport!!

The first receptionist is the one that phoned me when I requested the appointment - I'd confirmed exactly what it said on the prescription and even said I'd have to hitch down as I have no car. But he still booked me in for something they don't do, FFS

So, after a week of waiting, I now have to see if I can get an appointment at the other hospital and get a lift there



One bonus, I text some mates to see if they were in the valley (to save me hitching back up) and they were So I got an easy lift home, no hitching for the return

[Yorick]

Tourist tapas prices. We know lots of good tapas places and 4€ a pop is most we see.
But lots of Tourist ones are popping up and charging 7,8,9 euros a pop.

Folk on their hols don't care, but last week we went out with folk from UK and came home hungry despite a bill for 150€ for 4 of us.

Tapa are just 1/4 portions, so should reflect that.

Just pigged out at a local one where everything is 3.95€

https://go.nordqr.com/en/5hkx4x/menu/7043

[Pirahna]

Things that die a week outside the warranty period, in this case it's wifeys Garmin watch. She'll get in touch with Garmin to see if they'll do anything, a knackered battery after two years isn't good.

I doubt the battery is covered by the warranty.

Wifey has been onto Garmin today, they said to send it back and they'll replace it. I'll keep you posted.

[gremlin]

I reckon I wake up, the majority of the time, with a song going through my head. No rhyme or reason to it, just random tunes that go around my head for most of the morning.

This morning, it was Petula Clark's 'Downtown'. I only know two lines of lyric, so it's been on a maddening repeat since 6am....

[Horse]

a song . No rhyme

Some sort of modern Jazz?

[MrLongbeard]

Getting an advert for an ad blocker after being forced to turn off my ad blocker to read an online article