New Grump of the Day

[Penners]

Doris Day came and went without incident for us. Mind you, she was an untidy girl - the road outside is littered with dead twigs and small branches from the overhanging trees. However, the media forecasts of Armageddon seem to have been... shall we say... somewhat overplayed?

As usual.

 

[Flyfisher]

Yes, it could have been worse, she could have been singing 'whip crack away' while doing her thing.

 

[Penners]

she could have been singing 'whip crack away'

True, FF (if a tiny bit pervy)! :wink:

Oscar Levant had a wonderful line about Doris Day: "I knew Doris before she was a virgin"!

 

[malcolm]

However, the media forecasts of Armageddon seem to have been... shall we say... somewhat overplayed?

They didn't overplay the cancelled flights, though I wouldn't have fancied landing in 70mph winds.

No damage here, but the garden seems to be clear of willow leaves so I might be somewhat responsible for the mess that has appeared elsewhere.

 

[tobydog]

Mrs. Tobydog isn't happy. Her favourite shrub in the garden is gone. It was a woody plant but only stood about 2ft high on the top of a bank. It was found around the garden in several pieces having been ripped completely off its stump. That's pretty impressive. I also thought I'd cleared all the leaves this winter. Now they're all back.

 

[Penners]

I also thought I'd cleared all the leaves this winter. Now they're all back.

I should just relax and wait for Ewan. He'll clear them all away again for you.

 

[livias]

Not overplayed around here. We had ... tree on A1 shut the southbound route so police sent cars by a diverted route until a tree on the diversion shut that. I was driving down A6 when a tree landed on an artic 200m ahead of me :shock: :shock: :shock: Rather than wait in a queue I took to the side roads to get home and in 10 miles passed four more trees and one fence panel on the road

 

[Feltwell]

Carnage here at Feltwell Towers. The bird table AND a garden bench blew over. Praise Be for wheelie bins is all I can say, otherwise I may have lost a dustbin lid :wink:

Seriously, I know it's been bad in some parts. One of my team at work took nearly 4 hours to get home, a journey that usually takes him an hour - lots of fallen trees. Once at home he found that not only had a load of his garden fence come down, but half the ridge tiles on his roof had come off.

They'd been replaced last year with modern ones that screw and clip on, rather than being mortared - supposedly to make them more secure. He'll be having words with the roofer......

 

[Penners]

Carnage here at Feltwell Towers. The bird table AND a garden bench blew over. Praise Be for wheelie bins is all I can say, otherwise I may have lost a dustbin lid :wink:

Seriously, I know it's been bad in some parts. One of my team at work took nearly 4 hours to get home, a journey that usually takes him an hour - lots of fallen trees. Once at home he found that not only had a load of his garden fence come down, but half the ridge tiles on his roof had come off.

They'd been replaced last year with modern ones that screw and clip on, rather than being mortared - supposedly to make them more secure.

Have you seen modern houses with clip-on tiles down the verges? They look absolutely hideous!

 

[Feltwell]

Yep! I think there is good and bad though, I've seen some that look OK, although not right on a older house. My personal favourite though is the fake chimneys on new houses - a complete unit with a flat brick pattern printed on it that is lifted onto the roof and screwed down to give added character, it serves no other purpose. Very convincing. :roll:

There are a lot of new estates springing up about 3 miles away from me - an old colliery site. At least now the houses do vary in style, and bright white UPVC seems to be out of fashion, they aren't all identikit boxes like the Barratt estates of the 1980's or (if you're in East Anglia) the dreaded Bennett's estates of identical 1970's bungalows. But these new estates have houses that are so squeezed on to the plots - ridiculously so - the estates are a carnage of parked cars dumped everywhere because there's nowhere near enough parking. People pay a premium to live on them as well!

 

[Feltwell]

Grump de Jour. I was in the area I lived in as a teenager the other day, and I drove past the lovely old pub where I used to (illegally!) work and, occasionally and also illegally, drink. It was a lovely old place - Robinson's beer (which I happen to like), tiny bar area full of local old boys playing dominos, a bigger lounge area usually full of local couples, a nice friendly place with a Landlord with a very limited taste in music and only 2 cassettes on constant repeat, ELO's Greatest Hits was played at least 5 times a night ( I still can't hear "Don't Bring Me Down" without wanting to break something)

Anyway, I should have said "I drove past where the lovely old pub used to be". It's been knocked down and replaced by (according to the board outside) "A select development of 4 executive style houses in an exclusive gated community". To hugely add insult to injury they've named their executive abomination after the pub, "The Horseshoe".

 

[Penners]

Your know me well enough to be aware that I'm certainly not a pedant, but I think you'll find that should be "Grump du Jour"! :roll:

With ELO's greatest hits playing on a rolling loop, you would almost certainly have found me secreted in a corner of that pub every night, humming tunelessly along to 'Don't Bring Me Down' (who/what was 'groos' anyway?!).

One of the many grumps in which I, too, regularly indulge concerns the naming of modern, cheek-by-jowl housing estates. The more prosaic they are, the more likely they are to be named something like 'Cuckoo Common', 'Ploughman's Rest' or 'Cowslip Meadows'.

 

[Hobden]

One of the many grumps in which I, too, regularly indulge concerns the naming of modern, cheek-by-jowl housing estates. The more prosaic they are, the more likely they are to be named something like 'Cuckoo Common', 'Ploughman's Rest' or 'Cowslip Meadows'.

Just so! One of my favourite grumps too ...

 

[Feltwell]

Your know me well enough to be aware that I'm certainly not a pedant, but I think you'll find that should be "Grump du Jour"! :roll:

With ELO's greatest hits playing on a rolling loop, you would almost certainly have found me secreted in a corner of that pub every night, humming tunelessly along to 'Don't Bring Me Down' (who/what was 'groos' anyway?!).

Penners, you know me well enough to be aware that I'm certainly not a pedant, but I think you'll find that should be "You know me well enough", not "Your know me well enough". :wink:

Many suspect that it was "Bruce" with whom they were pleading not to be brought down. However, I agree, it sounds more like "groos" or "gruce". ELO's greatest hits was the better of the 2 cassettes that the landlord had - I didn't mind ELO until I heard it on repeat several times a night for a prolonged period......

 

[Penners]

Your

Damn!

The record sleeve notes spell it "grroosss". Completely meaningless, but perhaps a cunning ruse by Jeff Lynne to get people like us talking!

 

[mims&pip]

Your know me well enough to be aware that I'm certainly not a pedant, but I think you'll find that should be "Grump du Jour"! :roll:

With ELO's greatest hits playing on a rolling loop, you would almost certainly have found me secreted in a corner of that pub every night, humming tunelessly along to 'Don't Bring Me Down' (who/what was 'groos' anyway?!).

Penners, you know me well enough to be aware that I'm certainly not a pedant, but I think you'll find that should be "You know me well enough", not "Your know me well enough". :wink:

Many suspect that it was "Bruce" with whom they were pleading not to be brought down. However, I agree, it sounds more like "groos" or "gruce". ELO's greatest hits was the better of the 2 cassettes that the landlord had - I didn't mind ELO until I heard it on repeat several times a night for a prolonged period......

Gosh, I always wondered what 'groos' was too :lol:

My grump was actually on Thursday - my birthday. I spent the day all alone as Pip had been in Valencia from Monday and was due home Thursday evening, but his flight was cancelled (a knock on effect of Doris) and rescheduled for Friday, when there was another delay and he eventually arrived home at 8pm last night......grrrrr!

Apart from a few timber obelisks being blown about the garden, we had no damage here, despite us having quite a few mature trees. Curiously we lost a twenty-footer six weeks ago on a windless night :roll:

 

[Penners]

I spent the day all alone as Pip had been in Valencia from Monday and was due home Thursday evening, but his flight was cancelled (a knock on effect of Doris) and rescheduled for Friday

Oh no! Five days in Valencia instead of four - the poor chap must have been truly heartbroken! 8)

 

[mims&pip]

I spent the day all alone as Pip had been in Valencia from Monday and was due home Thursday evening, but his flight was cancelled (a knock on effect of Doris) and rescheduled for Friday

Oh no! Five days in Valencia instead of four - the poor chap must have been truly heartbroken! 8)

Mmmm, 'twas a business trip, Penners, but from what I heard it involved much imbibing of tapas and alcohol - so yes, I'd have to agee :lol:

 

[Penners]

'twas a business trip, Penners, but from what I heard it involved much imbibing of tapas and alcohol

The words 'business trip' are quite sufficient to convey the rest of your sentence, Mims! I speak as one who undertook many such 'business trips' to Sweden, when I worked for Volvo.

 

[philpjuk100]

50ft damson tree down,damaged a metal garden bench,Tree now cut into logs,dried a few around the logburner and now keeping the cats warm.Metal bench too rusty to weld so cable tied some empty 5 litre oil bottles to it and chucked it in the river,(should be in the humber by now!) I know but just needed it out of the way.River quite full all sorts of rubbish coming down stream,where do all these wheely bins come from?.