GRIPES

[facthunter]

Yes..They are popular enough.  Nev

[onetrack]

Peter, I'd have to opine, yes. A derivative is generally classed as a different aircraft for registration purposes, is it not?

[red750]

That opens up a whole raft of new options. There are many iterations of the American AA5 family, Tiger, Cheetah, etc., not to mention Cub copies.

[old man emu]

All you have to do is add references to derivatives or iterations. Just look at the Supermarine Spitfire. How many iterations of the prototype were there before production ceased. A Mk25 is radically different from a Mk1, but the bones are virtually the same.

[old man emu]

My gripe for today. I've just driven about 1000 kms on country roads today. Of what instructional purpose is it for a Learner driver to drive long distances on main roads at 20 kms below the posted speed limit? On single lane roads, they hold up other vehicles whose occupants might well be travelling in the course of employment. This can lead to risky overtaking. 

 

One thing they don't learn is courtesy. They will plod along for kilometre after kilometre without giving thought to puling over to let the following vehicles pass and get along the road at the posted speed limit.

 

I remember my Dad's furniture removalist company had written at the rear of their vans, "We extend to courtesy of the road to you. Please sound your horn to pass". But that was from a bygone age when people had consideration for others.

[Yenn]

Doesn't the law state that you have to give way to a vehicle which sounds its horn showing it wants to overtake?

I know it did, or words to that effect when I got my first Aussie licence in NSW. Of course that was in the good old days when we could exceed the 60mph speed limit if we could prove it was safe to do so.

[Old Koreelah]

14 hours ago, old man emu said:

…One thing they don't learn is courtesy. They will plod along for kilometre after kilometre without giving thought to puling over to let the following vehicles pass and get along the road at the posted speed limit...

Unless I’m on a mission or a major highway

, my preferred speed is 85km/h, which feels safest, gives best fuel economy and allows me to see a bit of the countryside.

Always aware of traffic approaching from behind, which either gets a clear chance to overtake, or I speed up to 100 before slowing them down.

 

Driving our old people’s bus I’m limited to 80 and regularly pull over to allow overtaking. I’ve never seen a single thank-you wave from any of those vehicles.

[old man emu]

3 hours ago, Old Koreelah said:

gives best fuel economy

Depends on the car somewhat. I find that 2000 rpm gives most passenger vehicle 80 kph and 2500 gives 100. The thing with country driving is that once you have reached your desired speed, the engine sits on the same revs for hours without the need for the extra fuel required in stop/start driving. I found that my car's trip computer told me that driving at 2500 rpm for five hours increased to expected rand from a full tank 55 litres) to nearly 700 kms. (2.7 litre V6 sports coupe)

 

3 hours ago, Yenn said:

Doesn't the law state that you have to give way to a vehicle which sounds its horn showing it wants to overtake?

Yep. But how can you hear a horn when you've got doof-doof music assailing your ears through ear bud speakers? I've checked my speedo against a GPS device. That's how I know what true speed I can get from 2000 or 2500 rpm. Most people rely on their unchecked speedo, which the manufacturers deliberately make to over read by at least 5 kph. When you are on a mission involving travelling several hundred kilometres, that error can add appreciable extra time.

 

Of late the NSW Government has been running short of cash, so it has sent out the road tax collectors in the form of unmarked speed detection vehicles which always seem to set up miles from any part of the road system that has a bad collision rate. Like within the 50 kph zone of the main road through a small country town. You really have to be quick witted for you sense of motion to settle down to the inputs of 50 kph when you have been driving for a long time at 100 or 110 if permitted. I'd really like to see the collision statistics for that main street.

[Old Koreelah]

Fuel economy has improved over the decades, even as cars have added air con and lots of gadgets.

I’ve recorded almost every tank of fuel I’ve ever used and occasionally tally it up to check economy. 
Worst: my mate’s red Mach III, which sometimes acheived 24mpg on a steady trip, while my Ducati did 65+.

Best: my wife’s Peugeot 307 averaged 62 mpg on a trip thru Qld at 100k with aircon running.
 
 

[Old Koreelah]

Have I mentioned that atrocity, “very unique” which is now widely used. 
If it’s unique, there is only ONE of the plurry things!

 

Like pregnancy, there are no degrees of uniqueness.

[red750]

This post is a mixed bag, and could go in a number of topics.

 

First, the good stuff. I said on the other forum that I was taking a break from aircraft profiles. Well, only partly. In preparation for the next round, I already have 5 edited photos each of 40 aircraft. I have been able to do that in large part because our Men's Shed reopened after the Christmas break, and I can sit at the computer pretty much uninterrupted for a few hours. The shed operates Monday, Thursday and Friday.

 

This is where the gripe comes in. There is a different group each day, with volunteers attending on all days. I am a volunteer. Because of social distancing, we can only have 9 members attend on each day. This means the groups are divided, attending on alternate weeks. Back one week, only half the members being able to attend, and today we were told the shed is closing until further notice. Why? The state government's Code Brown! As I said at the shed, we are all in the sh1t. The Code Brown is due to shortages of hospital and ambulance personnel. What the hell that has to do with the Men's Shed, I'm damned if I know.

 

The shed is run by a community health organisation, healthAbility. They are linked to the Health Dept. somehow, and if someone in the Health Dept sneezes, we all catch Covid. I think we are the only shed in Victoria to be closed by Code Brown. Half the members didn't even get a chance to return.

 

Yesterday I found out that one of the members I have known for nearly 10 years has MND. He was there yesterday but not in a good state. Then tonight I was advised by text that he has tested positive for Covid. We don't know as yet which variant.

 

Happy days.

[willedoo]

The crazy thing is that you've got a much higher chance of catching Covid in the supermarket than you have at a Men's shed.

[red750]

Particularly as you have to be double vaxed just to get in, and at least half are already triple vaxed.

[nomadpete]

Our Men Shed is still open. Required masks, QR login, social distancing. But at least still open.

[red750]

Why do TV stations insist on putting those watermark promos for their rotten programs and leaving them on all program. Two minutes would be enough. Everyone knows when the Winter Olympics are on and that they will be telecast by 7. No need to promote. And as for that Voice Generations rubbish - wouldn't watch it in a fit.

[ClintonB]

46 minutes ago, red750 said:

Why do TV stations insist on putting those watermark promos for their rotten programs and leaving them on all program. Two minutes would be enough. Everyone knows when the Winter Olympics are on and that they will be telecast by 7. No need to promote. And as for that Voice Generations rubbish - wouldn't watch it in a fit.

I Agree, it takes your attention when watching movies or a series. It’s not like we can press record on the VHS and “steal” it anymore is it. They repeat everything on 10 different named channels they own anyway so you can watch it at any time

[red750]

1 hour ago, ClintonB said:

It’s not like we can press record on the VHS and “steal” it anymore is it.

Actually, we can, Clinton, or at least, I can. (Psst..Don't tell anyone, it's illegal)

 

We have a DVD recorder with hard drive, not sure you can get them any more. We can record a program to the HDD, then go through and edit out the commercials. You can reduce a one hour program to 42 -45 minutes. Then you label the file, and burn it to a DVD to put in the cupboard. I have saved a number of aviation programs that way. You can view the program forward or backward, normal speed, twice or triple times normal speed, or frame by frame for editing. Great for getting rid of those damned Sportsbet or Ladbrokes annoying commercials.

[Jerry_Atrick]

OK - Gripe Time!

 

I sat through a 3 hour corporate training session today.. In my industry (Wanking, er.. I mean, banking).. in accordance with regulations, we have to sit through a minimum about of regulatory training every year so that we know what we are doing breaks the rules.. Well, not in my case, because my job is to try and stop them doing it.

 

And, of course, it is a noble thing to ensure every year those that may consider bending the rules somewhat are reminded that there can be consequences if fellas like me are doing their job properly.

 

But my gripe is over-zealous corporate training. Today, with a project that could use more time at the grindstone and less time faffing (or phaffing, for the posh amongst us) about, I had to sit through a 4 hour webex (an older and better Zoom) training session on... something banal and benign. About 6 months ago, I had to sit through online "e-learning" course that went through the same subject (Oh, I would love to do an MBA on the effectiveness of e-learning).

 

OK - for 4 hours, I would expect 4 times the depth of a 1 hour online course.. or maybe 3.5 hours as we have to role play at the end...

 

But, no.. It was a regurgitation of the online course with a role (or troll) play at the end. We could have recapped the original course and role played in about an hour.. so we wasted over 3 hours of our day..

 

So what is my gripe (or more accurately, gripes)?

1. Wasted training time that we covered in an hour's online only 6 months ago
2. Role playing - I was never into it with my intimate partners so there is no way I would be into it with complete strangers (er, maybe if her name was Tara and I found her on Oxford Street, had a few hundred $| in my wallet, I may change my mind - but - probably not.
3. It was all great in theory.. but in practice, you have to adapt so much to accommodate your audience of the time, the theory really means jack poo.
4. The instructor called themself "a facilitator" and when the difficult questions came in, the "facilitator" facilitated shutting the conversation down by saying "that;s so-and-so for your great question. It really is a question of judgement you need to make on a case by case basis" (i.e. not even some contextual tips).

 

But, with every cloud is a sliver lining.. I fell asleep about an hour in for a half an hour.. thankfully the webcam was off.. and I missed nothing of substance.

Edited January 26, 2022 by Jerry_Atrick

[nomadpete]

Oh no!

Jerry's been driven to drink again!

 

I had to read that to my darling wife. Such tortures are relatively new to her. A recent session like that had her switching the cam off, wandering around just within earshot in case somebody asked her something.... muttering obscenities to herself....

Reading the warning signs, I quickly trundled down to the local battleship and stocked up the wine rack.

 

And you reminded me of all the wasted e-learning sessions that I had endured in my career.

 

Real training was abandoned and outsourced to bods who had nil expertise in the subjects.  Our only training came from finding somebody in the audience who knew more than the rest of us and pumping them for information during coffee breaks. Of course the title "Instructor" had to go. The person is now a "facilitator" because they are only there to facilitate discussion (ie break up the arguments and get all boxes ticked).

Then processes became streamlined further and along came e-learning. And there wasn't a single e-learn that achieved it's intended goal, but somehow they fulfil some legalese boxtickers KPI.

 

Such a waste of manhours. Our workplace ground to a halt for a whole week every six months due to all this streamlining.

 

PS you were up late posting that gripe Jerry!

Edited January 27, 2022 by nomadpete

[facthunter]

Did they bring up WE are all going on a" Journey" together BS. ? Nev

[nomadpete]

Moving forward, At the end of the day, When all is said and done, We played "Buzzword Bingo".

Unofficially, of course.

[red750]

WPMO   -    What Pisses Me Off.

 

You are standing at the stove stirring a pot to keep it from sticking. The phone rings. You run to the other end of the room to answer it.

 

You pick it up and answer:  Hello? .........  Hello? ..........  45 seconds of silence, then a recorded female voice:  Goodbye..Beep.

[Marty_d]

You negative nellies should be looking on the bright side of online training.  Back in the old days you were stuck in a room with a bunch of people, the instructor could see if you were bored or doodling pictures, so you had to appear interested.

 

Now you make sure your camera is off, go on with your real work on the other monitor (or read a book, or do the household finances, or whatever you want) and check in every 5 minutes or so.

 

Jeez Jerry you could even get started on the red a bit earlier and they wouldn't know!

 

Just make sure your camera is off and your mic muted before you do anything naughty.

[pmccarthy]

The humidity here in Vic is stultifying. Cannot work in the shed. Computer keyboard has gone crazy and is sending random control messages to the computer. Floor tiles have a film of water on them. We are not set up for this, have evaporative air con only. Nothing to do but watch TV or read. Life is constrained to:

daily - wait for the time when  I try not to have a glass of wine

weekly - put on a new toilet paper roll

monthly - go to the chemist to get prescriptions renewed

 

I would amost swap with the West Australians

[facthunter]

An old Mitsubishi reverse cycle I have here with about 75,000 hours on it  makes all the difference.. De humidifies the place as well..  Might as well be comfortable. You are a long time dead. Solar at the same time so I didn't load the grid and feel bad about it.. Total cost today would be about the same as a "bomb" car. Nev