Grumble Thread

[Roger Webb]

Internet out again.....the tree that brought the cable down two weeks ago shifted downhill and took out the temporary repair! (sounds like the 'Self-Destruct Button' in Dr Strangelove!)....the cable lies forlorn beside the road untouched, and out-of-reach, even to Openreach, til at the earliest, Monday

Still an excuse to come into town for a pint!

[LMcD]

,,,"any inspired guesses as to what will be next?">>>


...touch screen to get food /beer?

.... provided you can provide proof of age in the latter case, of course.

[Pulcinella]

Team GB not Team UK.
If I were from Northern Ireland I'd be greatly offended by this insult, even if no NI residents were part of the team.
Is it simply to be higher up the alphabetical list of countries competing?

[Old Grumpy]

Google IA (FWIW):

"Team GB" is the official brand name for the Great Britain and Northern Ireland Olympic Team, representing the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man, and Falkland Islands, used by the British Olympic Association (BOA) since 1999. It is not called "Team UK" because the latter is less accurate regarding the full jurisdiction of the BOA, and "Team GB" is an effective, established, and concise marketing name.
Key Differences and Context:

• Official Composition: While branded "Team GB," the team represents the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, along with Crown Dependencies and British Overseas Territories.
• Geographical Inaccuracy: "Team GB" technically only refers to the island of Great Britain (England, Scotland, Wales), omitting Northern Ireland, but is used as a brand rather than a strict geographic descriptor.
• Why Not "Team UK"? The BOA argues that neither "Team GB" nor "Team UK" fully captures the diverse territories involved, such as the Isle of Man, which are not technically part of the UK.
• Football Exception: Unlike most sports, football is usually played as separate home nations (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland), although a combined Team GB team appeared at the 2012 Olympics.
• Northern Irish Athletes: Athletes from Northern Ireland have the unique option to compete for either Team GB or Ireland (Republic of Ireland).

Despite debates over the, the brand has been consistently used since 1999 to cover all Olympic athletes from these territories.

[LMcD]

Team GB not Team UK.
If I were from Northern Ireland I'd be greatly offended by this insult, even if no NI residents were part of the team.
Is it simply to be higher up the alphabetical list of countries competing?

Well, it might put us higher up the list of countries that haven't won any medals yet.

[LMcD]

If I had set my TV to record the comedy double bill at 9.00 p.m. on BBC 1 yesterday, would I have then found myself watching the Winter Olympics?

[Pulcinella]

Thanks for the clarification, OG, which actually does make some sort of sense, given the other territories.

[Old Grumpy]

Thanks for the clarification, OG, which actually does make some sort of sense, given the other territories.

UR welcome. Must admit I find Google AI quite helpful sometimes!

[kernelbogey]

,,,"any inspired guesses as to what will be next?">>>


...touch screen to get food /beer?

There are already restaurants where you are encouraged - I haven't come across any where it is de rigeur - to order with your mobile phone, often utilising handily provided QR codes. I wouldn't return to one of these places - indeed, might not even stay.

[Dave2002]

I have an American Express card - "courtesy of BA" [ in other words branded with the BA logos etc.]

I have an app for it on my Android phone - which as far as I know still works, though I dislike using the phone - it's just really not very good.
The app was OK last time I looked.

It seems that there is an app which works with iPhones and possibly also with iPads. I tried to download and install it, but that doesn't work as my iPad is an older iPad Pro, and the app won't install or load.

I tried to put a review about this on the Apple App Store site - but - guess what - that won't work as I can only put a review up if I have actually downloaded and run the app - which seems fair enough - until one considers the situation where install itself fails - for whatever reason.

I noticed that one person put up a review - and later edited it to indicate that it had failed due to the updates taking place underneath the app.

So - most of the reviews are 4 or 5 star - but very few people bother to update their reviews to show that a previously working app may now be effectively useless.

[Jonathan]

Why does everyone want you to "check in" before appointments these days? We've just had a message that we can check our car in before the service on Monday. The dentist is the same. I don't understand why just turning up at the appointed hour is no longer an option!!

[oddoneout]

Why does everyone want you to "check in" before appointments these days? We've just had a message that we can check our car in before the service on Monday. The dentist is the same. I don't understand why just turning up at the appointed hour is no longer an option!!

The dentist I go to wants forms completed online before the appointment, some of which are standard medical information matters/updates, but also includes some pages touting for further business as it is, needless to say, a private practice. I complained about that and now it is possible to skip those pages. The medical q'nnaire bit can be completed pen and paper style if necessary while waiting in the surgery before an appointment, but then the dentist doesn't have it on their screen when you go in. I can see reason to have up to date medical information prior to the appointment but don't quite see what the reason would be for a car service?

[Serial_Apologist]

I have an American Express card - "courtesy of BA" [ in other words branded with the BA logos etc.]

I have an app for it on my Android phone - which as far as I know still works, though I dislike using the phone - it's just really not very good.
The app was OK last time I looked.

It seems that there is an app which works with iPhones and possibly also with iPads. I tried to download and install it, but that doesn't work as my iPad is an older iPad Pro, and the app won't install or load.

I tried to put a review about this on the Apple App Store site - but - guess what - that won't work as I can only put a review up if I have actually downloaded and run the app - which seems fair enough - until one considers the situation where install itself fails - for whatever reason.

I noticed that one person put up a review - and later edited it to indicate that it had failed due to the updates taking place underneath the app.

So - most of the reviews are 4 or 5 star - but very few people bother to update their reviews to show that a previously working app may now be effectively useless.

Recently when making enquiries I have been finding that one has to insert information, eg personal identity details, in order to find out what they are! My account of my most recent tribulations with computer scams on another thread did not mention the number of times I encountered this time-wasting frustration during my searches. I'm beginning to think that just living a normal everyday life in this modern world is becoming impossible.

[Dave2002]

I'm beginning to think that just living a normal everyday life in this modern world is becoming impossible.

Not quite, but almost.

Recently - forgive our souls - we passed through Florida en route to other places. mrs d had suggested that we wouldn't need any US dollars having been to NY a few months earlier and found that rather like London many places would not take cash.We had some US dollars from previous trips, but we did not bother to get any more before going.
Wrong, wrong, wrong!

In Florida - at least where we were for a few days - cash seemed to be essential. Paying by credit card works sometimes, but the transactions may be carried out the old fashioned way, by signing a piece of paper, and possibly the server in a restaurant might take one's card away in order to get a print out. [No- no - no - howls of never let your card out of your sight ...!]. Tipping, which is a rampant way of life in much of the US is much easier with dollar bills - hopefully not too large amounts.

I'm assuming that everything has been OK - but that's an act of faith. One reason for trying to get the Amex app working on my iPad is to check some transactions I wasn't sure about.

In the end I tipped some people using pound notes, and went to an ATM to withdraw $100 for the final stretch, which to my amazement worked straight away.

I am still trying to verify all the transactions made on that trip. I did not want to access my Amex account online while I was away precisely because of the scam possibilities.
Android apps are thought to be less secure than some iPad apps - but if those don't actually work because of software updates and "deliberately ?? 'obsoleted hardware' ", then Android apps might actully be the only ones which can do the job.

[Jonathan]

I can see reason to have up to date medical information prior to the appointment but don't quite see what the reason would be for a car service?

Agreed! That's what puzzles me....