GRIPES

[old man emu]

15 hours ago, red750 said:

My gripe today is with the wind

A wind? You call that a wind? The wind has been blowing here all night. At the moment it's 14 kts, gusting to 23 kts. Gilgandra is known as the Town of Windmills. Some 360 windmills once dotted the area, tapping underground water, before central water supply in 1966. If they developed wind farms here on the poorer country, I reckon enough electricity could be generated to power most of the northwest of the State. 

 

Although constantly being in the wind can get on the nerves, the speed of the air exceeds the maximum airspeed a blowfly can achieve ( about 4 kts), so they can't catch up to you while you are moving. Unfortunately the little buggers have an advance warning system, so if if one fly misses the interception, they call on ahead with speed and direction so the ones where you are going can climb to get you further down the track.

[red750]

36 minutes ago, old man emu said:

A wind? You call that a wind?

A zephyr can be annoying if it stuffs up what you are trying to do,

[Old Koreelah]

So, OME, the blowies are out to get you!

 

 

 

[pmccarthy]

1 hour ago, red750 said:

A zephyr can be annoying if it stuffs up what you are trying to do,

The six cylinder one with tail fins?

[nomadpete]

Not the consul

[facthunter]

The later ones had a V6 in them. There was also a Granada.. There was a local built spots car called a Buckle based on the early Zephyr running gear. Nev

[old man emu]

3 hours ago, facthunter said:

There was a local built spots car called a Buckle based on the early Zephyr running gear.

Bill Buckle Jnr is probably most famous for the licensed-built Goggomobil "G-O-GG-O", although they had a reputation for needed the fritz replaced.

 

After about 10 year's development, a  prototype roadster was finally created in mid 1955 using Ford Zephyr components. After testing and minor design changes, the finished vehicle was first manufactured in June 1957 in a factory in Punchbowl, New South Wales as the Buckle 2.5 Litre. A good little racer, but only about 25 were made.

In 1958 Buckle traveled to Dingolfing, Bavaria (no joing about the name) to discuss the manufacture of Goggomobil vehicles in Australia with Hans Glas. An agreement was reached in which the chassis, engine and running gear would be imported and the body would be manufactured in Australia at the Punchbowl factory. Thousands of Goggomobils were produced by Buckle Motors.

From 1959 to 1961 Buckle Motors also produced the original fibreglass-bodied Goggomobil Dart two-seater sport car based on the Goggomobil Coupe. Originally doorless with a 293cc engine, later models featured small suicide doors, a hardtop and a 400cc engine.

 

[Jerry_Atrick]

Well, F! Me.. some people are the excrement of the scum of the earth. Ed Weary Dunlop's medals and letters were stolen this week from relatives. I hope they catch the perpetrators and hand them to the relatives first for some summary retribution before official proceedings with the law.

[Bruce Tuncks]

I have a gripe about bloody pay walls on sites where you get sucked in then denied. If I could, I would set up my computer to avoid those sites.

Just this morning, I got interested in how the "times" lot worked out just which Russian regiment was guilty of war crimes in Ukraine. As I got closer to the story, a bloody pay wall intercedes!

[willedoo]

3 hours ago, Bruce Tuncks said:

I have a gripe about bloody pay walls on sites where you get sucked in then denied. If I could, I would set up my computer to avoid those sites.

Just this morning, I got interested in how the "times" lot worked out just which Russian regiment was guilty of war crimes in Ukraine. As I got closer to the story, a bloody pay wall intercedes!

Bruce, a lot of paywalls use Javascript to block you. By turning off Javascript in your browser, probably half or three quarters of paywall sites can be read. Some can't be read with it turned off as their sites need Javascript to display all the content. But most use Javascript only to display video, ads, and those annoying paywall pop ups that block content, while the text is ok to read without Javascript.

 

Most browsers have a variety of add-on Javascript switchers which you can download and add to your browser. Usually it will install a small icon or widget on your address/URL toolbar, which will be set on by default. When you encounter a paywall site, just click the JS switcher icon and the page will reload without Javascript and you should be able to read it. It works on most, but not all, paywall sites.

 

Just Google 'Javascript switcher' for your particular browser, and there should be plenty to choose from. I have Firefox as the browser and use one called Javascript Switcher, which I like because it toggles Javascript for that site only. If you have multiple tabs open, other sites aren't affected. Some switchers will disable Javascript across all tabs so you need to click the switcher again to enable Javascript after you're finished with the paywall site.

 

In the first screen grab below, you can see the green 'JS' widget in the address toolbar. It's green when Javascript is on and colourless when it's off.

 

[willedoo]

I just checked The Times, and a Javascript switcher doesn't help there. It works best on sites that have a paywall pop-up box that blocks content.That box will usually disappear with Javascript off, and the article can be read. It also doesn't work on The Australian and some other Murdoch rags, but that's no great loss.

[red750]

I hate it, particularly when they post click-bait. They show something that is interesting, you click on the link, and hit a paywall. Also when it's for a special report, such as a downed aircraft. I only want to see that one report, why should I have to take out a subscription the the Upper Kumbucta West Egg Timer?

[Jerry_Atrick]

The Fairfax press are masters of that strategy. There is a way around their paywall, which is to browse privately/incognito. I am sure they know it and don't mind it, as they know that there are people like me who would pay if they thought they got enough out of it to day, and it also ensures they can, for advertising $, state they have had many more unique visits to their sites/articles than if it was a paywall. Murdoch press sites lock them down hard.. including The Times, which is actually a reasonable publication, believe it or not. 

 

If I see the clickbait/teasers that lead to a paywall, I just search the internet.. Inevitably some other free site has got something on it.

[red750]

Only sometimes. I've done a browser search for, say, "plane crash Woop Woop", only to hit "Log in or register".

 

 

[facthunter]

It's NOT Fairfax any more. It's Costello's Entertainent.   Nev

[octave]

Got no serious gripes?

[red750]

On 07/01/2023 at 9:06 PM, octave said:

Got no serious gripes?

I've mentioned this one before.

 

Why, when you turn on the tele, do you always strike the first of a string of 10 or twelve commercials. It used to be five or six, but now they go on and on and on.....

 

If you try to check out another channel, you strike the same thing. Commercial breaks are co-ordinated. Only OK if you need to make a quick trip to the loo. And it doesn't have to be that quick.

[nomadpete]

The old law permitted 'No more than four commercials in a row'.

 

When that law was cancelled, us mug punters all hoped that a bigger bunch of ads would give us time to boil the kettle for a cuppa (it does), but at least we hoped for a longer bit of programme between tea breaks (it doesn't)

[Jerry_Atrick]

I have all but given up on TV, except to watch streaming and youtube on a bigger screen.

[Jerry_Atrick]

[warning! Pommy Whinge Mode On.. lived here long enough, it does rub off on a person]

 

Gripe of the week: Employees! F! me, I remember why I worked on my own.. I manage a few people, and the ones I like best are the contractors. No complaints (except that I am not fast enough for them), no need to tell them how to behave, and no need to guide them because their parents forgot to.

 

We had a big software delivery this week, and one of the analysts who work for me, who I hasten to add is one of the smartest people I know... decided it was a good time a couple of weeks ago to get a puppy. No probs. and of course.. I love dogs...  But, he knows what impact it would have been on him and his young family. So, at crunch time, off to the vets for a worming issue. To his credit, he was only off for a couple of hours.. But, wife was home on a day off, kids at school.. and yes, he had to take the time.

 

I have been up since 6am this morning bashing out his crap, with sanity being maintained by taking the odd tid-bit of time getting on here for some little stress relief.

 

And then, testing the stuff he should have tested as well as my own, I found the programmers royally effeed up and it wasn't picked up.

 

Yet, I am going to have to develop a personal improvement plan, talk a fellla who is infintely more knowedlgeable than me (not hard) on markets through the stuff that is important, and make sure he is given every possible chance of success.

 

Don't get me wrong, I like him.. and he is really, really good.. when he is going. A bit like an old Jag e-Type  v12.. when they go.. they really go.. problem is they don't go as much as they should.

 

But in more generic terms, I hate line management. FFS, I have never had to have someone tell me what to do to move forward. Simples.. get to know people, get beyond  your manager's competence, but don't let him or her know it, and leverage others to get you where you want to go.. and RTFM! But these days, the amount of BS we have to do to support "professionals". These are well paid, educated people. The contractors manage themselves.. Why can't 10+year expereinced permanent employees do the same and bug me when they want a pay rise, when they need real help because the ship has hit the fan?

 

I now have my planned weekend of DIY (and GSETDMDIY - Get Someone Else to do My DIY) scuppered and will be at the keyboard all weekend... And as I am no longer a contractor, I don't get extra moola for it!

 

[Edit] Whinging pommie mode over.. that feels better!

 

Edited January 13, 2023 by Jerry_Atrick

[nomadpete]

1 hour ago, Jerry_Atrick said:

Pommy Whinge Mode On..

 

1 hour ago, Jerry_Atrick said:

it does rub off on a person

Oh dear. I fear for our esteemed friend. He is going to the dark side.

 

Look what living in a place where he is sunshine deprived, and suffering darkness all winter, and being forced to live in decaying damp quarters, has done to him?

Edited January 14, 2023 by nomadpete

[nomadpete]

My biggest gripe is .......

 

It's too hot to oil the deck today, so I'm sitting in the shade, waiting for sundown.

The biggest problem I have,  is I have to drink fast otherwise the beer gets too warm.

 

Oh, also, I must plan to clear the leaves from the gutters by May. (Not expecting rain until at least then).

Edited January 14, 2023 by nomadpete
post posting spellcheck

[old man emu]

Gripe: People who make a living by stating the obvious with words that haven't used to state the obvious before.

 

In Olden Days we were taught that completing a process involved answering the questions, Who, What, When,Where, Why & How. Let me give you an example.

Who: Me.

When: In a few minutes' time

What: I'd like a hot drink.

Why: I've just had food and I would like to have a drink afterwards

Where: At my desk

How: Goto: sub-routine <making a cup of tea>

 

The past few days I have been writing a grant application so I can hire Portaloos for "The Event". I had to answer a lot of questions in the application form, one of which was, "How does it (The Event) align with [Donor's] values?" One of the indicated values was "Future Thinking"  WTF??? is Future Thinking?

 

A quick bit of Googling came up with this: Futures thinking is a creative and exploratory process that uses divergent thinking, t's a different mind-set to analytical thinking which uses convergent thinking to seek the right answer and reduce uncertainty. And this:  Futures thinking reveals what could happen as a result of decisions, actions and issues occurring in the present. It includes all of the future scenarios that are likely to happen in order to make the best choices for everyone involved, which is known as the preferred future.

 

Isn't seeking many possible answers and acknowledging uncertainty what the meant before, when they said to identify the worst-case scenario, and before that the old Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle? And the PDCA cycle was outlined years ago in the International Standard ISO 9000 which deals with Quality Management.

 

I reckon I have a bit of a way with words. I think I might pick a self-help subject, find out with what words its ideas were expressed with, then grab a Thesaurus and say the same thing with obscure words. I have learned, however, that to enable most people to understand what you have written, you have to pitch your writing style at the mental age of 13 years.

 

As the Australian entertainer, Peter Allan, put it years ago, "Everything old is new again", and he did it with words and music.

 

 

[pmccarthy]

Our council has made our lives easier by creating an on line portal for people holding an event. Previously you rang them and told them that you were holding an event. Now each item on the portal requires answers to questions that we have never addressed before about things that are unlikely to occur. Once, people were required to have initiative to manage the unexpected. 

[facthunter]

How can the unexpected be predicted.. Surely it's risk management.  Empire Building me thinks.  Nev