The Grumpy Old Git thread.

[Feltwell]

babys clothing. if you have a little boy there are all sorts of clothes for them to wear , all sorts of nice colours as well.
if however you have a wee girl ,frilly pink pink and more frilly bleedin pink!
my little girl wears a lot of boys clothes.

Rob, we had much the same aversion to everything being frilly and pink. However, at 6 years old my daughter is now going through a full-on "Princess / Ballerina / Fairy" girlie phase, wanting to wear make up, pestering to have her ears pierced (NO chance!), new bedroom has to be bright pink with a princess theme, etc etc. It seems to happen to all of them.

Still, it will give me something to remind her about when she's 15, listening to whatever Emo/Goth has become and will only wear black! :wink:

 

[Feltwell]

I'm pretty sure cars in Norfolk have the indicators removed before being allowed on the roads. And everyone behaves as if the roundabouts have appeared unannounced from outer space overnight. You'll get me really started in a minute...

Gareth, you're not too far from the truth on roundabouts appearing from outer space. Back in t' 70's (when I were a lad) in deepest darkest Norfolk, roundabouts used to confuse the hell out of many of the Americans who came across to work at Lakenheath and Mildenhall air bases. Not sure if it's still the same but back then many parts of the USA did not have roundabouts.

One of the most amusing sights was watching "new" Americans trying to drive over here. They used to get their cars shipped across for free by the military - huge, softly-sprung, left hand-drive things with massively uneconomical engines. Watching them trying to navigate tight, twisty, bumpy Norfolk roads was amusing, and at the first petrol station they were in for a rude shock in the wallet. The local garage did a roaring trade taking them in as part-ex for a pittance and selling them on to American car enthusiasts (there's no accounting for taste), and selling Ford Fiestas and Escorts to the Americans.

More things to make me grumpy:-

Anyone from the South who assumes that everywhere in the North is a total dump. Yes, there are bad bits in the North and there are some very stereotypical grotty ex- mill towns. However the South has it's fair share of bad bits as well, and parts of it are hideously over-crowded, especially in London.

Topcial for me this week as I've had to deal with a "management consultant" from the equity company who has an interest in my company. This "chap" looks about 12 years old, knows s@d all but undoubtedly went to the right school. His opening gambit was "gosh, I've never been this far North" (we're only in Shropshire!). "I went to Edinburgh once but I flew of course". Of course. If you drove you might have to be near some poor people. "I have to go to Liverpool at some point. Not looking forward to that one". Yes, with an attitude like that I can see the Scousers will really warm to a little posh boy in an expensive suit.

Highlight of the week was when he announced he'd done some "very important work as a consultant just after I graduated" (to look at him you would seriously think he was no older than 16). It turns out that work was on that well-known success story, the Heathrow Terminal 5 baggage handling system, just before it went live :lol:

I've since found out his uncle is a director of the company he works for. Nepotism, the game for all the family.

 

[Flyfisher]

"I have to go to Liverpool at some point. Not looking forward to that one".

I must confess to never having been to Liverpool. Mind you, I'm not too keen on going to London these days - far too crowded for me. I've no particular north/south prejudice, more of a city/country thing. Horses for courses I guess.

But where would we be without regional stereotypes to poke fun at?

 

[Feltwell]

But where would we be without regional stereotypes to poke fun at?

Stereotypes are fun - especially as I work with a very proud Scouser with a very strong work ethic, no end of oppprtunities for wind-ups there!

It's the blanket dismissal of half the country as being so grim as you would never want to set foot there that annoys me, if it is genuinely meant (which in this case - despite having never been north of Oxford in his life, save for a plane ride to Edinburgh one day - it was).

 

[MdB]

I've no particular north/south prejudice,

What is this South you talk of? There is only North from here (and some East and a tiny bit of West).

 

[Penners]

the South has it's fair share of bad bits as well

Come friendly bombs and fall on Slough.
It isn't fit for humans, now.

Old JB knew a thing or two...

 

[Feltwell]

Kids that wake you up at 4am to tell you that they're bored. That's certainly made me grumpy this morning :evil:

 

[Penners]

How old are the kids? My daughter has a wonderful gizmo for her boys (3 and 4). It's an LCD "clock" but without numbers or hands - there are just symbols of the moon and the sun. The boys know that, if the moon is showing, they mustn't disturb mummy and daddy, but when the sun shows it's OK to go into their room. You can of course set the times when the two symbols appear.

 

[Feltwell]

Sounds like a clever gadget. Both my older children (4 and 6) have ordinary clocks in their rooms. It was my 4 year old that disturbed me, he can't tell the time that well but he does know when 6:30 is - which is when they have been told it's morning time and they're allowed to get up & play and disturb Mum & Dad. Prior to that it's stay in bed but read a book if they like.

Normally he's very good indeed, this morning was hopefully a one-off, so really I shouldn't be grumpy.

 

[EricD]

How old are the kids? My daughter has a wonderful gizmo for her boys (3 and 4). It's an LCD "clock" but without numbers or hands - there are just symbols of the moon and the sun. The boys know that, if the moon is showing, they mustn't disturb mummy and daddy, but when the sun shows it's OK to go into their room. You can of course set the times when the two symbols appear.

thats an awesome clock, and it teaches kids at a young age to not annoy mummy and daddy.
where did you get that?

 

[Penners]

Eric - leave that question with me. I'll get back to you.

 

[Penners]

Eric - I have the sun/moon clock info for you.

It's called a Gro-clock http://www.gro.co.uk/vmchk/Gro-clock.html My daughter says they're not cheap, but hugely useful if you value your sleep! She bought hers from Amazon.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Having just returned from a week's camping in the land of few vowels (Pen Llyn)*, I have added a couple of new enemies to my list:

a) The group of teenage campers who invaded our quiet spot mid-week with stereo-enabled cars, and alcohol-fuelled loud conversations late into the night - mostly about who had fallen out with whom in the group.

b) the joker who decided to steal the bolt from the shower room door. Although since they only removed the bolt and not the housing, I had a sneaky admiration for the amount of effort their enterprise required.

*Incidentally, if anyone is in any doubt about how beautiful our country is, I can heartily recommend a trip to the end of the Lleyn Peninsula in N Wales. Absolutely stunning scenery and interesting farm/vernacular architecture to boot. We stayed in a small campsite at the end of a road, about as far west as one can travel, overlooking the sea out to Bardsey Island, a couple of miles form Aberdaron. Mynydd Mawr if anyone wishes to Google it. Some great walks and beaches, most of it National Trust.

 

[Nigel Watts]

I too have returned from a week in Wales. St Bride's Bay in Pembrokeshire has some great coastal paths and views too. Not much interesting architecture other than the ruined Bishop's palace at St David's, and far too many PVC windows.

Main grumble: the fancy London prices charged by pubs for food which was poorly cooked. In particular The Swan at Little Haven and the Old Pharmacy at Solva did not impress, despite guide book recommendations. We couldn't get a booking at the Druidstone Hotel for dinner so cant comment on their food.

 

[Penners]

I have a grumble.

I suspect that this thread is being hijacked by people who are not old, not very grumpy and not remotely gittish.

Mild dis-satisfaction is simply not enough to qualify for inclusion. It must be a full-on grump, or nothing.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Well Penners, if we're going to deconstruct each word of the thread title and be absolutely purist about it, I have an issue with the use of the singluar definite article.

It implies that only one grumpy old git can participate, unless we re-title it to "The grumpy old gits' thread".

Harrumph.

 

[MdB]

Ooooh - a thread just for me!

 

[Feltwell]

I suspect that this thread is being hijacked by people who are not old, not very grumpy and not remotely gittish.

The problem is they are all such subjective qualities.

Take age for example.

I may think that an 80 year old qualifies as old.

Many 18 year olds would think that I qualify as old.

My daughter considers anyone over 12 to be postively ancient.

It's rather like the definition of middle age I suspect. At age 25 I bet most people think that 40 is middle-aged. Amazingly by 40 many will say that middle age starts at 50.

 

[Penners]

Well, if there must be only one grumpy old git, then surely the most qualified person in every respect should be appointed as the official PPUK GOG.

I hereby nominate myself.

 

[Moo]

Seconded.