Grumpy Old Man
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@Catogrande said in Grumpy Old Man:
I had a diametrically opposed experience with Apple recently. My MacBook Air battery had finally given up the ghost following some months of deteriorating performance and got to the point where it would no longer take a charge at all. So I went to the Apple shop to get a replacement. Simple eh? Not a bit of it. I had to make an appointment to go to the "Genius Bar" and speak to one of their Geniuses to get the fucker changed. OK I did that. Simple then yes? No.
I was fucking well triaged and had to speak to two other people before being led to said Genius Bar, which is basically just a high table with some high stools littered around it. I am eventually joined by the obligatory neckbeard and I explained the problem. "Hmm. This needs a full diagnostic and a bunch of other stuff. 30 minutes later he decided that teh battery was fucked and I would need a new one. "How much" I said. That would be £129 but we can't do it for you as this model is obsolete. Cue much gnashing of teeth on my part. he finally said that I could visit another computer place just a round the corner who should be able to help. I went round there, explained the situation and the guy said "let me have a look" Switched it on, plugged it in and within two minutes said "your battery is fucked". We can do this for £129, when do you want it done by"?
"This afternoon"?
"Sure"
Apple and their so called Geniuses can all get fucked.
was the replacement proprietary? I am not sure if they are deliberately reducing their durability or the higher performance is having a big hit on reliability, but Apple batteries don't seem to be as good as they used to be IMHO. And their parts are eyewatering expensive. Some of their peripherals are also crapesque in my opinion.
And Apple/Genius! are milking the distinction between perceived and designed obsolescence.
I'd move to Unix and a nice clean new OS if I could. I think I will at home. -
I’m told the replacement was Apple. The guys at the second shop are all ex-Apple techies who got sick of working there. They are actually bloody good.
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@Rancid-Schnitzel said in Grumpy Old Man:
@Bones said in Grumpy Old Man:
Yeah, well, fuck Google. Recently my pixel 6 at about a year old just stopped working on mobile data. Calls, texts and WiFi still worked.
Absolutely fluffybunnies to deal with and just kept sending empty empathy emails and repeatedly asking me to state when and what happened and at what intervals, despite me already stating that it wasn't intermittent and it happened immediately after a security update and stayed that way.
After me asking for an update two weeks in, they sent an email basically saying "hey we're looking at it ok and it'll take as long as it takes". Then another email every few days with me having to repeat cause and symptoms.
Traded it in after 5 weeks for £16 and got an oppo flip. Neat and won't go back.
Pixels are utter shit. Had similar problems. The battery indicator also paused at 7% and therefore couldn't update or do shit. Dude at the mobile place said they were notoriously bad. Glad I did my due diligence 🤦♂️.
Oppos are good value but I think they start wearing down after 2-3 years (screen sensitivity etc). Liked Samsung esp the camera but just too darn dear. Motorola seemed pretty reliable (and tough!) but I didn't like their cameras so much.
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@Catogrande said in Grumpy Old Man:
I’m told the replacement was Apple. The guys at the second shop are all ex-Apple techies who got sick of working there. They are actually bloody good.
Yeah Apple is too much of a meal ticket for Apple. I can't let my wife even walk near a Genius store because of the experiences she had. It is a crap service model and their teenagers aren't geniuses.
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@dogmeat said in Grumpy Old Man:
Why is there always some fucknuckle in every Airport Lounge talking on their phone at the top of their voice.
That's another thing wrong with the world - people who miss out the second "K" in fuckknuckle.
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You’re on fire at the moment, you miserable, grumpy bastard.
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@Rancid-Schnitzel said in Grumpy Old Man:
@Bones said in Grumpy Old Man:
Yeah, well, fuck Google. Recently my pixel 6 at about a year old just stopped working on mobile data. Calls, texts and WiFi still worked.
Absolutely fluffybunnies to deal with and just kept sending empty empathy emails and repeatedly asking me to state when and what happened and at what intervals, despite me already stating that it wasn't intermittent and it happened immediately after a security update and stayed that way.
After me asking for an update two weeks in, they sent an email basically saying "hey we're looking at it ok and it'll take as long as it takes". Then another email every few days with me having to repeat cause and symptoms.
Traded it in after 5 weeks for £16 and got an oppo flip. Neat and won't go back.
Pixels are utter shit. Had similar problems. The battery indicator also paused at 7% and therefore couldn't update or do shit. Dude at the mobile place said they were notoriously bad. Glad I did my due diligence 🤦♂️.
It was my second one and was great until that happened, but the support was bullshit.
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Actually, apart from a slight neck problem, life is pretty damn good.
But it won't last - I have to deal with DEFRA civil servants this afternoon.
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I look forward to the rants to come!
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@NTA said in Grumpy Old Man:
@Rancid-Schnitzel said in Grumpy Old Man:
Pixels are utter shit. Had similar problems. The battery indicator also paused at 7% and therefore couldn't update or do shit. Dude at the mobile place said they were notoriously bad. Glad I did my due diligence 🤦♂️.
Was that the Pixel, the Pro, or the "a"? I've heard differeing reports about the reliability of each.
Have had a Pixel 4a and now a 6a and besides the odd quirk, no issues with the hardware or OS.
I buy the cheapest Google phone possible because it does the job for me and I don't need a ton of storage or a camera that can see atoms.
I fucking hate things like SamsungUI or whatever they call it now.
Samsung's UI shat me to tears. So I went to the Pixel 4 Pro and then the Pixel 6. I really like it. So much that after dropping one and cracking the screen, I bought another. Then replaced the screen so now I have a spare.
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@Bovidae said in Grumpy Old Man:
@dogmeat said in Grumpy Old Man:
Why is there always some fucknuckle in every Airport Lounge talking on their phone at the top of their voice.
Really not interested 'mate'.
The worst are people who always use the speaker to have a conversation on their phone - anywhere. Then you hear two people talking at the top of their voice!
And hold it to their ear.
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@nzzp said in Grumpy Old Man:
@Bovidae said in Grumpy Old Man:
@dogmeat said in Grumpy Old Man:
Why is there always some fucknuckle in every Airport Lounge talking on their phone at the top of their voice.
Really not interested 'mate'.
The worst are people who always use the speaker to have a conversation on their phone - anywhere. Then you hear two people talking at the top of their voice!
it's the bloody older people who think it's OK. PIsses me off mightily.
Show some bloody respect for the thread and the old buggers who don't ya...
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@Victor-Meldrew said in Grumpy Old Man:
and the old buggers who don't ya...
Is this an Amsterdam Red Light District expression or from the selective George Michael years? Goes straight into my GOM urban dictionary.
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@Catogrande said in Grumpy Old Man:
I look forward to the rants to come!
As you asked.....
We're raising money for a new roof on the Village Hall as the costs of repairs are uneconomic, the leaks are causing serious internal damage and so are applying for grants for match-funding. The private foundations are generally great - helpful, un-bureaucratic and quick to give decisions. The government-run schemes? Well, fuck me.....
They want a 13 month project roll-out cashflow, a 3 year P&L for the Hall to assess viability and a copy of our latest accounts. No problems with that except we then get queried as to why the amounts don't match. Well, possibly because there's a difference between a year, 13 months and a charity's Financial Year end date, you morons.
Onward....we fill in a 10 page application form, explaining that unless the roof is replaced, the Hall will become damaged to the point of being unusable. These fuckknuckles (note the correct spelling) then want to know what improvement the new roof would bring to the village hall. Well, clearly none at all - a leaking roof which shorts out the electrics and causes ceilings to collapse is a standard architectural features on buildings and is de riguer in rural areas...
Someone find these twats a whelk stall to run.
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@Victor-Meldrew said in Grumpy Old Man:
then want to know what improvement the new roof would bring to the village hall. Well, clearly none at all - a leaking roof which shorts out the electrics and causes ceilings to collapse is a standard architectural features on buildings and is de riguer in rural areas...
Every year I apply for the same set of state government grants for our Rugby club.
Every year I open the PDF of last year's successful grant, add a few members to the tally, and resubmit.
The only thing that changes is the amount I receive. As long as they can see growth, they're meeting their KPI
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@NTA said in Grumpy Old Man:
@Victor-Meldrew said in Grumpy Old Man:
then want to know what improvement the new roof would bring to the village hall. Well, clearly none at all - a leaking roof which shorts out the electrics and causes ceilings to collapse is a standard architectural features on buildings and is de riguer in rural areas...
Every year I apply for the same set of state government grants for our Rugby club.
Every year I open the PDF of last year's successful grant, add a few members to the tally, and resubmit.
The only thing that changes is the amount I receive. As long as they can see growth, they're meeting their KPI
Well, this is one-off capital grant so it's probably a bit different. Point is this whole application process has been designed by a committee of the clueless.
Edit: We get a grant every year from a business donor and they pop by and have a pint in the bar to make sure the Hall is still there...
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@Victor-Meldrew you spelt fucknuckle wrong
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Ok, here goes, time for me to presumably piss off a few people.
Smokers.
Across the board the most selfish and inconsiderate people on the planet.
They don't care that their habit negatively impacts on other people. Smokers know that if they're walking down a crowded street smoking that everyone behind them is smoking too.
They all litter, even the ones who claim they don't will often flick a butt. With no other habit is it ok to just throw your shit on the ground. Fizzy drinkers aren't just throwing empties on the ground as a habit.
Not a day goes by where I don't go past a smoker smoking right in front of a no smoking sign or a doorway. piston wristed gibbons.
You always meet the ones saying they're considerate just as they light up in front of you and then make an exaggerated effort to exhale away from you. Nope, you're not considerate, you know your smoke is going everywhere just from it being lit even when you put in your Oscar winning performance of blowing it away.
NSW has fucking stupid pub smoking laws. They can have tiny little open areas inside a pub and that counts and then that pub is essentially a smoking pub.
I'm particularly pissed off at the moment because I live in a non smoking apartment building, it's one of the reasons I live here, it's clearly spelt out in the by-laws and all residents are advised of it before moving in, yet for the last two days my apartment has been riddled with smoker via the internal fan system in the bathroom. Just go out to the street you fuckwit.
All of the above goes for vape people and public pot smokers too (which seems to be increasing in Sydney).
I have no shame in saying that when I'm supreme dictator I will be building camps, lets call them concentration camps, for smokers to live in. They have two options, one they can work beautifying the roads so that they can amend for their inconsiderateness, or two they can have a group shower ...
