None of the above!

On 12/31/2025 at 8:22 PM, unofix said:

Me neither 🤣

Working outside at -1^oC at 9:30am, but it did warm up to 4^oC at around 1:00pm.

Good news after studying the belt tensioner I found a hole at the 2 o'clock position. I made a locking pin and with my new 15mm ring spanner I was able to get the tensioner fully wound back and the pin in. The belt was still putting up a bit of fight, but after putting it in a dish of hot water for a while it was much more flexible and it went straight back on 🎉 Once again @iantt thanks for that info on the locking pin.

I didn't have time to finish putting the fuel system back together but it's nearly done. I hope to have it all done tomorrow and start the New Year with my daughters car working 👍

You never know when a pin may come in handy. 

2 hours ago, iantt said:

You never know when a pin may come in handy. 

Very true. This is my home made 'forever' alternator lock pin 👍

Probably never needed again. 😂, know mine won't be. 

Haven't got a belt on our 3 cars. 

Some of you may remember all the hassle I had replacing a fridge freezer in summer.  Choice limited by tight gap to fit it in.  First one created too much noise for a small flat.  Replaced with a more expensive, supposedly premium, model.  Complete appliance replaced a month later due to multiple build issues.  Replacement still not up to my standards, but 'did the job' at the time.  Now we're in winter the fridge doesn't work!!  Checked the climate class and it says SN-ST which should be good down to 10c right?  It's 13c in my kitchen so should be working according to that.  This is an old-style fridge freezer, not auto-defrost and not forced-air.  I can't turn the thermostat down as it does chill properly later in the day once the kitchen warms up a bit.  I just can't understand why all appliances are utter ***** nowadays.  Last year I bought a washer dryer that was so poorly programmed I couldn't use it.  Previous 'auto-defrost' fridge was overheating every other day in summer, and I bought a new cooker this year that only works for the first 30 minutes, then starts loudly grumbling (believed to be fan catching element).  Honestly, if this is the best that human intelligence can come up with nowadays I'll be glad of some artificial intelligence!

Yes. That is why I try to keep everything going. My washer/dryer dates from the "On and on" period of Ariston advertising and while I am advised that it makes its own hole in the ozone layer and costs more to run than a private jet, it continues to justify the advertising slogan. The paint is badly discoloured so any self respecting lady would have had it in landfill long ago but I bought it second hand for a hundred quid twenty years ago and I have never yet needed to repair it.

You're lucky then.  My previous washer dryer broke after some idiot human turned off my water outside through ignorance or mistake or whatever bullshit excuse they want to come up with.  The doorlock had been dodgy for a while, but the machine went into some sort of fault mode when it sensed the lack of water mid-cycle and severely overheated the lock so it wouldn't release at all.  The drain pump seemed to be programmed or connected to the lock so that just kept pumping dry with no way to stop it.  This ***** flat is built so poorly that there isn't a remote switch for any appliance, and I no longer have the strength to pull the machine out to unplug.  Had to switch off all sockets at the CCU to stop the fire risk of the pump running dry and the doorlock potentially burning out the wiring and just wait for someone else to come and pull the machine out for me.  (At that point I realised my mobile SIM card had been cut-off, so I had to briefly turn sockets back on to use wifi through router, with the pump running constantly again).  Horrendous experience.  Then made even worse by being sold a new machine that didn't fit my requirement and to top it all off it was plumbed so badly that the sink didn't drain properly for the duration of it's fitment.  Tried to replace that machine again this year and ended up with one that's far too deep to fit under a unit...unfortunately I was out of the property when it was fitted, would never have allowed it to be left sticking out 12 inches as that's now considerably limited my access the kitchen drainer, something I have to use every single day.  I honestly give up with humans and this planet altogether.

We had to replace tumble dryer, washing machine, fridge freezer oven, hob all in the last 2 years. All of various ages from 10 years to 25 years old. Replaced with Bosch mostly and so far have been excellent appliances. 

3 minutes ago, iantt said:

We had to replace tumble dryer, washing machine, fridge freezer oven, hob all in the last 2 years. All of various ages from 10 years to 25 years old. Replaced with Bosch mostly and so far have been excellent appliances. 

I find appliances very hit & miss with brands:

Fridge/freezer - Electrolux (lasted 28 years)

Washing machine - HotPoint (lasted 23 years)

Tumble Dryer - Hotpoint (lasted 19 years

Built in oven - Homark (34 years and still going)

4 ring hob - Homark (34 years and still going)

MicroWave with built in grill - Hitachi (40 years and still going)

 

All of which is nothing compared to the little machine, the size of a pacemaker, made in 1952 which, with regular servicing every ten years or so still works perfectly, give or take ten parts per million. It cost me a quid at a boot sale, needed no parts to get it running and I have owned it for more than thirty years.

The Longines 12.68z wristwatch first introduced in 1938. Within four seconds a week in Summer,  five in the Winter and not a battery in sight. They don't make them like that any more!

2 hours ago, StephenFord said:

I find appliances very hit & miss with brands:

Fridge/freezer - Electrolux (lasted 28 years)

Washing machine - HotPoint (lasted 23 years)

Tumble Dryer - Hotpoint (lasted 19 years

Built in oven - Homark (34 years and still going)

4 ring hob - Homark (34 years and still going)

MicroWave with built in grill - Hitachi (40 years and still going)

Very impressive 👍

but haven't you forgotten the most important thing ?

How old is the Maypole ? 🤣

Further to the fridge situation, I had an 'emergency heater' brought over yesterday to keep the kitchen temps up last night.  (Forecast sub zero temps overnight all week).  Heater looks fine, acceptable quality, produces heat at 3 different levels...but never switches off!!  Doesn't matter what temp I set it to, it just endlessly pumps out heat. 🤦‍♂️  Can't see that I'm doing anything wrong so it must be faulty.  I can't understand it though, am I just incredibly unlucky?  Surely all of these things are built in batches so there must be loads of faulty ones for every item I buy?  Do you guys manage to buy things nowadays that just work?

11 hours ago, iantt said:

We had to replace tumble dryer, washing machine, fridge freezer oven, hob all in the last 2 years. All of various ages from 10 years to 25 years old. Replaced with Bosch mostly and so far have been excellent appliances. 

 

11 hours ago, StephenFord said:

I find appliances very hit & miss with brands:

Fridge/freezer - Electrolux (lasted 28 years)

Washing machine - HotPoint (lasted 23 years)

Tumble Dryer - Hotpoint (lasted 19 years

Built in oven - Homark (34 years and still going)

4 ring hob - Homark (34 years and still going)

MicroWave with built in grill - Hitachi (40 years and still going)

 

Part of the problem I've got is that appliance brands seem to be doing a 'Fiat Ka' nowadays.  So although their high range and even mid range items might be decent quality, the cheaper ones aren't necessarily.  

I did look at getting a Bosch fridge freezer last year, but can only fit the lowest model (55cm wide) and that one looked identical to the cheap Chinese fridge I was getting rid of.  Bosch wouldn't tell me why it looked identical and just insisted they had nothing to do with Fridgemaster or Hisense who make the other one.  Eventually I found one website showing the build location for this specific Bosch fridge...which was China!  So I'm now fairly sure it is exactly the same fridge, just with a few Bosch logos and a 50% price markup.  However, in hindsight, I do wish I just bought another of those now, hoping that a brand new one might be programmed better than the 3 year old one.  What I chose instead was to avoid auto-defrost altogether, but that hasn't been successful.

I also looked at a Bosch washing machine, but those wouldn't fit as the gap for that isn't quite the full 60cm here either.  So I was forced to buy another Hotpoint, due to the slimmer width...but it was only after it arrived I realised it was actually a Beko with Hotpoint logos, which explains why it's so much deeper than the old Hotpoints were.    (Though I still don't understand why anyone would make a machine that doesn't fit under a unit, unless the unit manufacturers have changed their standard depths recently).

So basically I'm stuck with items I didn't actually want due to this damn flat yet again, which I've been trying to escape for over 5 years now.  I just don't see any realistic way that I could move to a more suitable place in my circumstances now though, which is also why I'm getting so frustrated by all of this.  It's not like I can tell myself this is short term and there's something better to look forward to.  This is it now.  

Yes Tom. I'm in my last dwelling now and it is a matter of what you can with what you have. Houses are getting smaller and the furniture is dolls house stuff yet appliances seem to be suffering the bloat of modern cars. I think I'd choose to buy second hand Miele then pay somebody to recondition it as I reckon that would give me the best service and durability. Meanwhile, I have a new bathroom to consider. I shall do it all myself during the Spring and Summer but finding a shower cabin that fits me, the bathroom and the budget is proving tough and to find one that looks as though it would last more than five minutes, impossible!

3 minutes ago, anon said:

Meanwhile, I have a new bathroom to consider. I shall do it all myself during the Spring and Summer but finding a shower cabin that fits me, the bathroom and the budget is proving tough and to find one that looks as though it would last more than five minutes, impossible!

Best not to mention showers with me either. 😬  Somehow I've ended up with a replacement that is now another 4" higher off the floor!!  Much more difficult to get in & out.  The shower head is also no longer high enough to allow for a full height human so it's much more difficult to use as well.   I don't know whether it's the fault of the landlord or the letting agent or the fitter...they all just blame each other and deflect any responsibility.  It's not even like I got it free as I had to pay thousands of pounds to rent another flat nearby for the work to be carried out.

12 hours ago, anon said:

They don't make them like that any more!

Have a look at WristWatch Revival. Good news is that often, they do...

2 hours ago, StephenFord said:

Have a look at WristWatch Revival. Good news is that often, they do...

I have been doing exactly this for more than twenty years, specialising in column wheel chronographs but very few modern mechanicals are built like the better watches of the 1970s. None at affordable prices. A Longines or Omega was an upper mid priced watch. Today's Panerai for all its fancy price tag is actually a simple pocket watch movement from 1950, slightly gussied up with a better finish for example and even a modern Jaeger LeCoultre is not built to the same quality as it once was. (Look at one under a microscope if you ever get the chance to see a 1960s example. The edges of the plates are shiny but distorted very slightly; unlike the perfectly bevelled ones of today. That's because they were hand finished by a man skilled with a file and a burnishing tool. Nobody could afford those skills these days.)

 

Not shutting off the water supply to my outside tap properly, doh 🤭. The only good thing about it is that the frozen water has made a cone shape, I've never seen that before. 

not a dislike, more a pure hatred..

 

People being vague as... completely gormless about their vehicle and its surroundings. 

 

most people with a phone or computer learn how to work it, update it, maintain it. why cant they do it with their cars??

 

I cant even say its a particular generation, but regardless some of the people i have to deal with its a wonder they remember how to breathe. 

 

with the advancements in genetic alteration, id have thought a cure for "stupid" was ready for release? or is that what the covid jabs were meant to do? 🤔

 

Anyone dealing with the general public should be able to relate, for anyone unable to relate, they probably fall in the category above.

 

I know its a bit late for a monday rant, but ive run out of meds, the "herb" round here is like parsley and Im hungry... 😂

 

 

23 minutes ago, Vauxfan2k said:

not a dislike, more a pure hatred..

 

People being vague as... completely gormless about their vehicle and its surroundings. 

 

most people with a phone or computer learn how to work it, update it, maintain it. why cant they do it with their cars??

 

I cant even say its a particular generation, but regardless some of the people i have to deal with its a wonder they remember how to breathe. 

 

with the advancements in genetic alteration, id have thought a cure for "stupid" was ready for release? or is that what the covid jabs were meant to do? 🤔

 

Anyone dealing with the general public should be able to relate, for anyone unable to relate, they probably fall in the category above.

 

I know its a bit late for a monday rant, but ive run out of meds, the "herb" round here is like parsley and Im hungry... 😂

 

No. Nobody learns how to update or maintain their phone or computer. We're all too fecking busy so we learn what we have to when we need to (especially as at least one operating system for something will change every week so you don't want to fill your head up with frustration to no purpose. People don't need to know anything about their cars except what it looks like in the car park. The rest they can pay somebody else to know for them.

 

 

2 hours ago, Vauxfan2k said:

I cant even say its a particular generation, but regardless some of the people i have to deal with its a wonder they remember how to breathe.

The irony being that as a species, we have never had more access to information, yet a lack of intelligence on how to use it...

Like perhaps our government ?

"There are none so blind as those who will not see"

When you open a bag of fruit pastilles, why are 80% of them, the yellow & orange ones?? Everyone knows the red/black ones and green are the ones that most want!! 🤣

I do NOT like Royal Mail!!

Sent a simple birthday card to a friend 1st class on Thursday morning to a friend in Wales. Enclosed a bit of cash in it. In theory, it should have arrived Friday, well it's Saturday and they still haven't got it. In the olden days it would have got there next day - bloomin' post!! (I obtained a certificate of posting as I always do as they're cr*p but can't even raise a complaint form till 10 days after posting... )

Fancied something quick and easy for lunch and found an Asda pot noodle in cupboard. Followed instructions to the letter, I'm very fussy! It was disgusting. Even with the addition of salt, soy sauce, and ketchup, totally tasteless & bland and noodles were stringy and awful.

Heads up - if you're buying a 'pot noodle', buy a proper one - Asda can't make them 🤣

tasteless