GRIPES

[old man emu]

I'm cranky at my keyboard, but from what I have just written, you would not know the cause.

 

The key for the letter "k" is not connecting. So I have to keep checking to see that the letter appears on the screen. The letter "e" is the most commonly used one in the English language, but it is amazing how often that one between "j" and "L" is used. It is the same as not being aware of how important your thumb is until you hit it with a hammer.

[facthunter]

You can't grip anything without a thumb. Nev

[nomadpete]

Too true Nev.

 

But I can type without using my thumbs.

 

Even type with one finger!

 

I can't pick up the keyboard to throw it out the window though!

 

Edited August 1, 2022 by nomadpete

[facthunter]

You don't need a grip on "anything" to type. . Trump proved that. Nev

[willedoo]

13 hours ago, old man emu said:

I'm cranky at my keyboard, but from what I have just written, you would not know the cause.

 

The key for the letter "k" is not connecting. So I have to keep checking to see that the letter appears on the screen. The letter "e" is the most commonly used one in the English language, but it is amazing how often that one between "j" and "L" is used. It is the same as not being aware of how important your thumb is until you hit it with a hammer.

I don't know if this will help, but it has some information on cleaning sticky keys.

https://www.wikihow.com/Fix-Sticky-Keyboard-Keys

[willedoo]

I don't know if this is a gripe or a question, but where do all the biros go? It drives me crazy. I make a point of buying them by the handful and within a short period of time, I'm struggling to find a biro. Stolen by biro gremlins, maybe. I wonder if you can buy them in packs of a thousand.

[Bruce Tuncks]

Hey me too willedoo! Reading glasses too and baseball caps.

The best explanation I have ever read was in a Superman comic. There is this imp from the 5th dimension who steals things all the time. You have to catch him and make him say his name backwards to get rid of him.

[spacesailor]

Going further back to my youth,  fishing rods were made of ' split bamboo ' cane, very springy & light .

The cane must have been split,  at least 6 or 8 segments into a shape that could be arranged to form that solid rod.  Mainly used for " fly  " fishing.  ( I preffird using a worm or maggots ).  LoL

spacesailor

[red750]

My gripe for today is this "Working from home" business.

 

Most staff from my son's work do not go to the office. These days they "hot desk", so for ,say 30 staff, they may have 6 desks. If you go to work, you may get a desk, and it won't have all the stuff you need. So we have to put up with him talking on the phone all day, reading the prospectus or product disclosure statement word for word, for hours on end. Obviously, his customers cannot read. They certainly cannot use a computer. You hear him repeatedly giving instructions on how to navigate the website, how to complete the online applications, etc. Saving him a fortune with no travel or parking. 

 

Sometimes he works from 8 till 4:06, but this week it's 11:54 till 8 pm. Gotta work that extra 6 minutes each day. Makes preparing meals and washing up more of a drudge.

 

And you have to sneak around, quiet as a mouse, because the microphone picks up every sound. Bloody hard keeping the dog, which lives inside, quiet. Loves to chase the cats or bark at them. It's a small yapper, and the neighbours Rottweiler loves to jump the fence, so he's not allowed out in the yard. My daughter walks him around the block or takes him up to the footy ground for exercise.

 

It's too bloody cold to go outside. I've been wearing two sleeveless pullovers under two long sleeved ones, and still feel cold. And my nose runs like a tap. No it's not Covid, I've been like that every winter for years. With no car, I can't even go down the street. Going stir crazy.

[Yenn]

I cannot understand this working from home. There just isn't enough room to get 40 cows into my living room to milk them and I doubt the boss would pay for the clean up.

[old man emu]

Just now, Yenn said:

There just isn't enough room to get 40 cows into my living room to milk them

You reckon that's bad. Try shearing a thousand head a day on the back veranda. The bloody roustabout keeps falling off into the Missus' herb patch, and the tar boy is dripping tar on the back door mat. 

[nomadpete]

My gripe......

 

My telephone secretly sucks the ink out of all the pens it can see.

[red750]

Getting documents witnessed.

 

I took some document copies I needed for ID, with the originals, to the chemist to be signed off by the pharmacist. I was the only customer, and all I needed was two signatures. They had a lineup of trays on the pharmacy counter with scripts customers had submitted and were calling back later to collect.

 

The manager said I would have to wait till the scripts were dispensed because they were received first. I said "I've been a customer here for 40 years." He said "What's that got to do with it?" So went to the Post Office agency a few doors down. About 8 people in the queue all with large parcels, one person serving on the counter.

 

There is a Chemist Warehouse in the same small shopping centre. Went in and was told a 15 minute wait. My daughter was driving me, and we had to get home so she could do her school crossing lollypop lady job. Documents not signed. My son will have to drive me to the police station before he starts taking calls at 11:54 tomorrow.

 

This not having a car is killing me.

 

[Yenn]

Getting a signature witnessed is not as easy as you would expect.

When they brought out the ASIC card I got all the paperwork over the internet, filled it in and went to the Gladstone Court House to get my signature witnessed. THe receptionist took the filled in form and some time later an official came and told me he needed to see the explanatory documents, which explained how to fill it all in, Wouldn't just witness my signature, but wanted to quiz me about every little detail. Luckily there is a JP who volounteers at the court house, so I grabbed the papers and went to him. That took him about 2 minutes and the other hour or so was just bureaucratic buggarising about.

[onetrack]

We have JP's that voluntarily give a couple of hours a day of their time, at the local council offices or other public buildings such as libraries, to witness documents. 

[spacesailor]

Those J Ps aare a godsend for the quick work they do !.

They won,t accept any reward for their efforts.

spacesailor

[old man emu]

44 minutes ago, spacesailor said:

They won,t accept any reward for their efforts.

It is actually against the law for a JP to charge for service, and that includes accepting gratuities.

[Marty_d]

If you only need a Commissioner for Declarations rather than a JP, any public servant who's been working for the commonwealth for more than 5 years fits the bill.

As are quite a few other professions, looking at this list.

https://www.justice.tas.gov.au/commissioners-for-declarations-and-justices-of-the-peace/commissionersfordeclarations/list_of_groups

[old man emu]

Bloody building regulations.

 

One of the first things the Arthur Butler Aviation Museum wants to do at Tooraweenah Aerodrome is to build toilet facilities. At the moment there area couple of large Oleander bushes to wee behind, and an ancient long-drop loo which has been the home of generations of bitey nasties.  I have been gathering designs and prices for a two-stall unit with a hand basin for washing. Maybe even a shower stall.

 

I found that we could build one with volunteer labour for a cost of under $10k for materials. Then someone said that any public toilet unit needs to be "Accessible", meaning able to be used by people who have a physical disability. Well, that's fair enough. Then I had a look at what the Regulations say have to be in one of these "Accessible" units. Plenty of space to move is a no-brainer. Hand rails to assist getting up and down onto the toilet - yep. Toilet roll holder not too close or too far from the toilet - ok. Toilet seat with 30% luminance contrast to its background -WTF?!

 

The intent of this requirement is so that people with low vision can identify the accessible toilet pan within an accessible toilet facility. Makes sense when you get the explanation, but on first reading it takes you aback.

[nomadpete]

Regarding building requirements....

I am aware of one flying school that solved this problem by building a steel framed toilet/shower unit 8'1" wide, onto a generously proportioned steel C channel 'bottom plate'. They then bolted 4 wheel hubs under it, and a draw bar. It was then 'parked' on blocks adjacent to a nice access ramp. Technically, it is transportable, so didn't require the usual council approval for structures. It meets requirements for wheelchair access.

 

It was built by club members, keeping costs low.

 

Could that approach help at Tooraweena?

[Yenn]

Callide Dawson Flying Group use mobile toilets and showers rather like Nomad has described. Really good as they can be used at many functions.

[old man emu]

Well, the idea is for the Council to provide grant money for the project, so we are looing at making a grant application that provides solutions to all requirements (I hate "Ticks all the boxes") Also we want Tooraweenah to be up-market, not some two-bob long drop shack affair. Our revised estimate is in the vicinity of $10K, which is a big drop from an original plan involving floating raft concrete floor and septic system with pressurised water supply. 

 

Give us the benefit of our having respect for our visitors. After a couple of hours in the cockpit, would you want to swipe your way into an creepy-crawly-infested shed over a cesspit?  We are trying to gain a reputation for the airport as being a worthwhile place to use.  If its shithouse is shithouse, there goes our Cred.

 

By the way, as a result of the latest spraying, the big bugger thorn plants are dying off before flowering.

[onetrack]

If the local council is making life hard for you with a simple application for installing a crapper, I hate to think what they are going to be like, if you ask them for permission to hold a large fly-in event.

Some councils are brilliant with their support, some councils are nothing but a PIA with constant petty demands and offering up regular obstructions, rather than smoothing the way for progress.

 

It's not like your proposal is a half-baked non-conforming gunyah setup, that is aimed at avoiding council and basic health requirements.

Maybe you need to put "Consultant" in your title - some councils only start to function with key words and phrases that they understand.

[spacesailor]

Don,t knock those ' long drop ' toilets. 

I saw my first one at a farm that put on a open ' week ' for a clubs four wheel drive outing !.

Up came the ' tractor ' down went the ' auger  ' along came a shed , complete with ' sit upon '  ( second tractor )  ,then a tank of water, complete with solar pump to keep us ' flushed ' .

Amazing how efficient that setup was.

spacesailor

[Marty_d]

Why would you need a flush on a long drop?