GRIPES

[pmccarthy]

They have channels that are just adverts. Who watches them? 

[old man emu]

Why can't we return to the great old days when the sun shone from cloudless skies.

 

 

I'm sick of a month of cloudy skies that don't produce rain.

[red750]

Move to Mildura.

 

 

[Yenn]

What is rain?

[old man emu]

2 hours ago, Yenn said:

What is rain?

Water that isn't a river yet.

[Yenn]

On Thursday we had a four day forecast of rain for this area. We got a little bit on Thursday, nil on the rest of the 4 days. I am still having to water fruit trees and vegie garden. Today has been no sun, but no rain. Hopefully that ex cyclone in the gulf will travel down here and give us some rain.

The forecast of a wetter than normal Spring never eventuated, it was drier than average. We are just hoping for Summer rain to be better.

The BOM seem to be relying on a model generated over the years, but the climate is changing. The problem is that all the experts are predicting this, that and the other and it is not coming true.

[old man emu]

I knew it would happen. November/December we got good rain and the lawn took off. Come January and we get a 40C day followed by some high 30's and the lush green lawn has turned to brown straw. The bloke across the road has just sown a new lawn, but he's a green-keeper and has installed a computer-controlled watering system.

 

[spacesailor]

BUT  How many of us, actually SAVEs what rain-water we get.

I don,t need much rain as I did before installing " rain diverters " in my house.

I was astounded at how dry this ground is, even after rain, an excavator was removing Dry, dusty soil only a metre deep.

Do we really need to pipe All our roof water out away from the garden, or, are we being Conned into Buying reticulated water? .

spacesailor

[old man emu]

I was amazed a few weeks ago when my gutters were overflowing after a sudden downpour. I got up to clear the downpipe entry and saw the amount of water in the gutter. It all ran out into the street after I cleared the blockage. I can't afford to give my garden and lawn a really good watering because I can't afford the excess water bill. I'd love to have an almost prize-winning garden, but I've had too many dry growing seasons to bother with putting in the effort.

[spacesailor]

OME

Bunnings have those " Rain Water Diverter,s ".

I just put my wheely bin under the drain pipe, and save 240 litres of water for Ron,.

spacesailor

[Marty_d]

Some of us don't have a choice - all our water is cloud juice. 

I don't understand why rainwater tanks aren't compulsory on new builds. 

[Yenn]

Years ago when I bought my first house in Gladstone it had a big water tank underneath it. Highly illegal, but we enjoyed good tasting water for the 9 years we lived there. Now I have two tanks and they supply all household needs. A dam looks after the garden needs, but at the moment it is very close to empty. We are just waiting for a cyclone to come South enough to give us some rain.

[old man emu]

1 hour ago, Marty_d said:

Some of us don't have a choice - all our water is cloud juice. 

I don't understand why rainwater tanks aren't compulsory on new builds. 

In NSW they are; http://www.basixcertificatecentre.com.au/Rainwater-tank.htm

 

The only problem is that in the suburbs, especially the new ones there is no room for a decent sized tank. And just in case you don't know how to install a rainwater tank, here's a few tips from one NSW Council if you want to set one up for an older house.

https://www.esc.nsw.gov.au/inside-council/council/council-policies/codes/Design-Guidelines-for-Rainwater-Tanks-Where-an-Existing-Reticulated-Water-Supply-Exists.pdf

 

[red750]

Why is it that health insurance only covers in-patient treatment? If you have exactly the same treatment as an outpatient, you have to foot the bill yourself. The medical condition is the same, the treatment is the same, and there is no overnight accommodation expense.

[pmccarthy]

A very small gripe, or perhaps humour, I am looking for a crank pin for a motor bike and found this on Ebay:

You are watching ROYAL ENFIELD CRANK PIN STANDARD SIZE, manufactured in India. Made of premium grade 18 gauge steel sheet/13 gauge aluminium ...

[red750]

The final insult from our local doctor, where we have been attending since 1979.

 

But first, today we attended a financial meeting with the radiation therapy clinic where my wife  will be treated. She requires 30 treatments over a 6 week period. The total cost will be over $23,000, with an out of pocket expense of $2,000. During the induction, her blood pressure was a bit high at 189/83. They asked her to check with her GP who had prescribed blood pressure medication, which had been discontinued through her cancer operation, before proceeding with the radiation.

 

Here's the rub. The gate gestapo at the medical centre said "We have no bulk billing appointments available until late next week. You can have an earlier appointment but you will have to pay full price. You can have an earlier teleconsult, but you will have to pay for that as well."

 

Since when is it OK to treat pensioners as second class citizens?

[old man emu]

How come you have to pay for your wife's treatment? My wife had similar at the tab was picked up by Medicare completely.

[red750]

Can only assume that they charge more than the scheduled fee.

 

Interesting side note.

 

Payments for the treatment will be deducted from my wife's account by direct debit in weekly instalments each Friday. Medicare will deposit their portion on the Monday or Tuesday beforehand. We have to notify the clinic before Friday if Medicare's payment has not been received. Weird, eh?

[old man emu]

Must be a private hospital.

[red750]

Yep. Ringwood Private. Or at least Genesis Radiology located within RPH.

[ClintonB]

Over the last week some very helpful people from the sub continent have been good enough to ring me to help with a problem with my windows operating system.  I find them extremely pro active with assistance for a problem I didn’t even know I had.

first one said” I can help you with your faulty windows application”,

when I politely told them I have an Apple computer they hung up.

the second one on next day had the same line, so I informed them I don’t have the internet, and they hung up. Today’s one was a female, she gave me the same line, to which I enquired would she like to give me her bank account number and pin. Instead of hanging up, I got a “ you effen  bastard” which was extremely funny in an Indian accent, then the hang up click.

I have taken to having fun with them instead of telling them where to go, they must have picked up the lingo from being told all the time.

my gripe with this is the do not call register means stuff all, because I have been on it since having this phone number, and it’s a daily occurrence. What dodgy ones do others get?

[onetrack]

The calls from the scumbags are endless. Sometimes we get 20 a day. The worst ones are the recorded threatening voices that tell you you will be arrested if you do not pay your outstanding tax bill. Or your NBN will be cut off if you don't press 2. You can't even talk to them or bait them. 

But the ones where the Indians actually talk to you are lovely to bait. I often just lift the handset and listen. There's a lag, then a nervous Indian voice says "Hello?". I leave it for a few more seconds and say in a low tone, as if I'm talking to a colleague, "Have you got a trace on that number?" The line suddenly goes dead, which is a real surprise!

 

Or, I'll wait for the standard 10 seconds and then answer, "Ello??", in a frail voice. Then the caller goes "Hello??", so I wait another 5 seconds and say, "Ello?" again in a quavering voice. They get excited. They've got a potential hit! "Hello!! Hello!! Can you hear me??". I go, "Ello? ... Ello??", and they come back a little less excited, "HELLO!! HELLO!! Can you hear me now??".

Of course, I keep it up, wasting their time, for no result, which is exactly what I want to do. Some of them are quite persistent, but most give up after 40-60 seconds, when they realise they're not going anywhere with this call.

 

And of course, SWMBO, being a Police Supts daughter, has to go for their jugular. Knowing that most are Hindu and Karma features big in their religion, she says, "Do you know how much bad karma will come back on you, when you try to scam and steal from people?".

This generally brings forth answers such as, "Oh No, Madam! I would never steal from you, or scam you!" And she goes back at them. "Of course you are! You're trying to steal money from me or scam me! Does your mother know you do this for a living?"

By then, the Indians have had enough, and they generally just hang up. A few have abused her with some vicious swear words, which left her a bit shocked.

 

It's a shame the international phone system and internet allows these scumbags to flourish, and avoid all our attempts to stop them, or track them down.

I reckon the bloke or gal who invents a system whereby we can track the call to a specific address, would become a billionaire overnight.

 

Edited February 1, 2021 by onetrack

[octave]

I got rid of my fixed line phone about 10 years ago so no problem there.   With my mobile I simply do not answer calls that are not in my contacts.  Sometimes a call I do not answer is legit but in this case this caller leaves a message which I do retrieve straight away and I will call back.    Scam calls don't usually leave a message.    This thwarts the scam call industry and the more people who do it, the less productive it will be for the scammers. 

[red750]

Unless I know the number of a missed call, I don't call it back. Invariably, it will be one of those scams where you get asked to hold, and plays music. They are keeping you on line at your expense and get a kickback from the phone company. What I hate is multiple calls in a day that show NO CALLER I/D.

[Yenn]

Luckily I don't get all that many scam calls, but I don't have the luxury of going to mobile phone for my connections. It doesn't work reliably here. A pain in the you know what really as banks like to send SMS messages if I make a large unusual withdrawal, although SMS does get through better than voice.

What I dislike with mobile phones is that there is no way of finding someones number. People I know use a mobile, but I can contact them by landline only if they advise me what number to use. I can't find their number even if they ring me on the landline, whereas a mobile will retain their number.