Things We Hate

[Cheese & Biscuits]

Not as bad as people who walk through a door and stop when you're walking behind them. They'd be the first to the 'squad' if I was in charge.

 

[SALTIRE]

Like that woman from Total Recall?

You make me wish I had three hands!!!

 

[HertsWolf]

Failing to bleed the brakes on my missus' Golf on a freezing cold driveway because the caliper that VW relieved me of £200 for is defective. VW quality control. c***.

It worked perfectly during the testing.

 

[HertsWolf]

When you hold a door open for the person behind you and they just walk through without 'taking' it. And then the next person waltzes through. So you let the door go and it slams in the face of your client.

 

[Cheese & Biscuits]

The combination of WiFi calling and free WiFi at underground stations.

More opportunities for me to be subjected to people shouting rubbish down their phones when all I want is a quiet commute.

 

[HertsWolf]

Food on ferries. How the fuck does it look like that before your stomach has had the chance to churn it all up?

"You want HOW MUCH for that? You got Gordon Ramsey back there slopping up this shit today, mon ami?"

 

[mistermagic]

Franchises always pop up and spread like fire in Thailand. 7/11, Family Mart, Subway. Burger King and MacDonalds weren't too bad though.

You live in Thailand?

The RER. It's barely two years old and it's falling apart. Seedy dark platforms that smell like Portman Road, entire 500m access corridors lit by a single 20W bulb, broken tarmac, like a war-zone with Gucci adverts.
Especially Chatelet-Les-Halles which has to be the utter worst station on the planet. It's busier than the Primark in Mumbai and ranker than Portman Road and not a single escalator has ever worked and there's wiring hanging down. Up above it, the whole Forum Les Halles is a rat-infested reception hall for Hell.

Never in my wildest dreams would I have though I'd be debating the RER on an English Football message board but here goes!

Let me the story of me going to work. We start at Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse, the dead end of the RER B. I take the 7h15 train and change at Châtelet at which station I just stay on the same platform but then take the RER A to Auber which is only one stop. There I take the métro 3 to Pont de Levallois Bécon. 1h45min it takes me. Joy.
Now I don't particularly agree on what you said about Châtelet. The only thing that pisses me off is how this new wave fashion of putting sings on giant pillars has infested the station. Sometimes it tells you to go left of the pillar when really it takes less time to go right.
I do not find it smelly (then again maybe Portman Road smells fine), I don't find it underlit and I don't find it unsafe. I also find the Forum Les Halles quite good. Went to the FNAC yesterday and bought my mum's Christmas present.

 

[JimJams]

You live in Thailand?.

I did.

 

[HertsWolf]

Now I don't particularly agree on what you said about Châtelet. The only thing that pisses me off is how this new wave fashion of putting sings on giant pillars has infested the station. Sometimes it tells you to go left of the pillar when really it takes less time to go right.
I do not find it smelly (then again maybe Portman Road smells fine), I don't find it underlit and I don't find it unsafe. I also find the Forum Les Halles quite good. Went to the FNAC yesterday and bought my mum's Christmas present.

It's almost like we are describing different Châtelet-Les Halles (and different Forum Les Halles!). I regularly use the RER B line platforms and they are dark and dingy, the surface has been removed in large parts, always overcrowded. It's not as bad as St Michel, where to go from B to C you have to walk up an incredible (and narrow) staircase while they are replacing the escalators.

I was in FNAC both Tuesday and Wednesday this week. I don't know how long you have lived in Paris but the Forum used to be wide open spaces underground, now it is a warren of narrow corridors with hardings along one side. FNC has so few tills working for the size of astore...it took me almost 20 minutes to queue. That's a phenomenally long time.

fwiw, since writing that 'Hate' I've been out at La Défense which is even worse. These all seem to be built for far smaller crowds than current use. Now there was a strike this week affecting RER A lines so this may have made matters a lost worse. I only got to see the CNIT building (which was good) but the 'rail concourses' are poorly lit, poorly signposted and dirty.

If you compare how poor these spaces are compared to the lower levels of both the Gare de l'Est and the Gare Saint-Lazarre....

 

[mistermagic]

Maybe my standards are too low...

There's something I never thought I'd post...

 

[Stagat]

Slow motion videos on Facebook. You're on a trampoline. It's not The Matrix.

 

[mowgli]

Grown men wearing Christmas jumpers that just shout look at me i'm a knobhead.

 

[The Iron]

Grown men wearing Christmas jumpers that just shout look at me i'm a knobhead.

I hope nobody buys you one for Christmas then

 

[mowgli]

I hope nobody buys you one for Christmas then

I'd give it to an animal charity shop.

 

[Martino Knockavelli]

Several chaps in full Xmas wrapping paper stylee suits out in Derby on Saturday. Absolute nutters!!!

> SUITS WITH AN XMAS WRAPPING PAPER STYLE PRINT ON THEM, JUST BE CLEAR. SOME CONFUSION IN THE BOX ABOUT THIS. WE REGRET THE ERROR.

 

[epic73]

> SUITS WITH AN XMAS WRAPPING PAPER STYLE PRINT ON THEM, JUST BE CLEAR. SOME CONFUSION IN THE BOX ABOUT THIS. WE REGRET THE ERROR.

 

[mnb089mnb]

Several chaps in full Xmas wrapping paper stylee suits out in Derby on Saturday. Absolute nutters!!!

> SUITS WITH AN XMAS WRAPPING PAPER STYLE PRINT ON THEM, JUST BE CLEAR. SOME CONFUSION IN THE BOX ABOUT THIS. WE REGRET THE ERROR.

BLATANT "I had a night out in Derby" humblebrag here.

 

[G.B]

the common cold. what a prick it is

 

[George Reilly's Hairpiece]

TV programmes that insist on doing that - "Coming up" or "Still to come" in the middle of the bloody programme or when they go to an advert break. I know there is more to come, you're only 15 minutes into a half an hour programme.

 

[mowgli]

TV programmes that insist on doing that - "Coming up" or "Still to come" in the middle of the bloody programme or when they go to an advert break. I know there is more to come, you're only 15 minutes into a half an hour programme.

Channel 5 shite documentaries are the worst for doing this followed by Pick tv or Sky 3 as it used to be called.

 

[Look Out There Are Llamas]

Stars Wars.

It's utter wank.

 

[TomPNE94]

Stars Wars.

It's utter wank.

Never heard of it.

 

[Look Out There Are Llamas]

Never heard of it.

It's like Star Wars, which is incidentally woeful, but a cheap porn rip off. Like Cinderella.

 

[Techno Natch]

Potentially long post coming up. I recently got offered a new job which I'm quite looking forward to starting.

I was initially contacted by an agency and then put forward for the interview which was successful.

All happy. I was told by the agency that the pay rate would be £8.70 p/h which is decent enough for the sector I'm in. Signed my contract for that amount.

I won't be able to claim anything on expenses from them either as I won't be earning enough so I wont even get that benefit.

The company pay the standard rate £8.20 for the role I'm in.

So a week ago I had an email from this agency saying they've noticed I'm not part of an umbrella company would I like to be referred to them. I just ignored it as I suspected it was some sort of service I didn't want.

The agency eventually rang me and explained I cant be paid unless I join one which I was never told but fair enough. I allowed them to put me in contact.

Spoke to the lady on the phone yesterday and she explained how it all broke down and told me the total I'd take home every month. I asked her to send it all to me and tonight I've worked out that after all their monthly deductions I'm going to be on £7.50 p/h!

Absolute pisstake. Not sure if I've worked it all out wrong so I've emailed the lady to clarify. I knew there was something shifty about the agency as any time I dug about anything he seemed to avoid it. They are in Ipswich to so not like I can turn up in their shop to sort it out properly.

 

[Christian Slater]

Went to the cinema last night and had a spare seat because I'd booked in advance and my lass was too tired to go. Was at least looking forward to having a spare seat to separate myself from the other folk that had crammed in to a nealry sell out room. But some little shit was sat in my girlfriend's seat, when I told him he said there wasn't any two available for him and his mate to sit together, so being soft I said it was alright. It wasn't alright though, he stank. He even dared to put his smelly arm on my armrest until I asserted some dominance. Give 'em an inch.

 

[JimJams]

You raped him?

 

[blade1889]

Potentially long post coming up. I recently got offered a new job which I'm quite looking forward to starting.

I was initially contacted by an agency and then put forward for the interview which was successful.

All happy. I was told by the agency that the pay rate would be £8.70 p/h which is decent enough for the sector I'm in. Signed my contract for that amount.

I won't be able to claim anything on expenses from them either as I won't be earning enough so I wont even get that benefit.

The company pay the standard rate £8.20 for the role I'm in.

So a week ago I had an email from this agency saying they've noticed I'm not part of an umbrella company would I like to be referred to them. I just ignored it as I suspected it was some sort of service I didn't want.

The agency eventually rang me and explained I cant be paid unless I join one which I was never told but fair enough. I allowed them to put me in contact.

Spoke to the lady on the phone yesterday and she explained how it all broke down and told me the total I'd take home every month. I asked her to send it all to me and tonight I've worked out that after all their monthly deductions I'm going to be on £7.50 p/h!

Absolute pisstake. Not sure if I've worked it all out wrong so I've emailed the lady to clarify. I knew there was something shifty about the agency as any time I dug about anything he seemed to avoid it. They are in Ipswich to so not like I can turn up in their shop to sort it out properly.

That sounds dodgy and illegal!?

 

[Techno Natch]

I get the honour of paying their Employers National Insurance as well. There's a lot in the press about this at the moment. Apparently it works well if you're on good money but it's no good for someone like me.

I rang up today and they've upped the initial rate to £9 p/h but its still not improved my actual rate. Sent a lengthy email explaining what I think about it and the agency guy is saying he's going to try to sort something out.

I told him he no one gets told a pay rate and then thinks they are going to have to take off £40 per week before you've even paid any of your own tax. We'll see what he sorts out.

He tried it on a bit on the phone saying they have others who would take it etc but that didn't really work with me. I know the company are keen on me and there are plenty of jobs like this out there.

 

[blade1889]

Good luck! Although if this is a sign of things to come I'd be considering whether it'd be worth it whatever tbh

 

[Cheese & Biscuits]

This thread has highlighted how crap the minimum wage is. When you said you'd be on £7.50 an hour I assumed that was around the minimum. Little did I know it is £6.70. Jeez.

Best of luck to you.