Exxos's B-roll blog of nothing in particular

[exxos]

My van is diesel though..

The fuel filter was changed a year or two ago but there was nothing not with the one that was even taken out before anyway.

Filters are a bit of a double-edged sword, because if they are small enough gauge to catch the gunk, they tend to block up in about 10 minutes, so then the van won't run at all

its got one of these on the thing already..

Capture.PNG (119.22 KiB) Viewed 75 times

In terms of scale I suppose it is sort of like a Coke can sort of size.. Only thing I could really do is change it again but it seems a bit pointless..

There is a little "unknown" drain at the bottom which you open up to drain the diesel at the bottom of the filter, which is basically to let water out which enters the system.. I've tried that and did not make any difference either..

There is another crappy idea ,maybe the fuel pump is on its way out as it only seems to act up after driving for about 20 minutes.. But considering these symptoms seem to be the ones I've had in the past it more seems to be a fuel quality problem..

I need to go to dawns tomorrow anyway, so its got redex in it now.. see how things go..

[exxos]

Trip to girlfriends was basically okay yesterday. The van was juddering a little bit at one point where normally misfires.. So just have to see how things go..

Continuing the trend of why I hate software...

Been trying to figure out what credit and debit cards I have what the pin numbers are any can only do this in the Lloyd's android app are not on the website

so basically you select the card and you click the view pin number button.. Then it says please wait on the button comes up at the bottom same show pin.. So you press it and as soon as you let go the number vanishes.. So you would think just hold the button down and it will stay visible while you're holding the button down.. Nope !! It basically does nothing at all !! So basically I to sit there pressing the show pin extremely fast and have it alternating between **** 1234 kinda thing. I think the number stays up for like quarter of the second making it practically impossible to read.. And the best thing is, eventually the app crashes and I have to log into the bank and start all over again ! FFS!

And that is another reason why I don't use apps.. Only I am forced to because the Lloyd's online banking website doesn't have that option.. Is also another reason why I hate software these days because it's all just built to crash and irritate me !

I mean in the 90s it has basically had the moving things phase with colours and clipart and animated gifs.. Then came more professional looking websites.. Then came the hiding stuff phase.. And now it's the I have no idea how to build a website or interface at all anymore" phase. Pretty much let's hide everything making it more work, when we do give you the things you want to view list just make it as cluttered and bloated and annoying as possible.

[mrbombermillzy]

I get you. I cant even get away from this by watching TV. The same recipe of confusion is used by Netflix, Amazon Video and the rest.

[exxos]

I get you. I cant even get away from this by watching TV. The same recipe of confusion is used by Netflix, Amazon Video and the rest.

My girlfriend continuously gets mad because the streaming on some channels constantly freezes.. And yet other channels work perfectly fine..

I have said before things seemed to improve and get worse at the same time.. On one hand it's great to have on demand television.. But also it sucks because you don't just download the program and watch it when it has finished downloading another day.. At least that way you know you had the whole program to hand and it would generally work.. But now it's just basically click and pray the program actually runs through from start to end..

[mrbombermillzy]

Yes, we had a stuttering problem (with Disney+ I think). Turned out the settings were at 4K streaming, which when turned to FHD - which is what our TV actully is - cured that.

I believe it was both the initial data buffering along with the higher stream bitrate (and our sub-par internet at the time) causing the issue.

[exxos]

Today's odd bug find.. One seemed to do a wee down my window

IMG_5274.JPG (157.61 KiB) Viewed 34 times

IMG_5272.JPG (176.55 KiB) Viewed 34 times

IMG_5270.JPG (174.78 KiB) Viewed 34 times

EDIT:

According to Claude..

Image 1: likely a Hairy Shieldbug (Dolycoris baccarum), also called the Sloe Bug. The black-and-white banded antennae, very hairy legs and chequered abdomen edge fit. It's shown from underneath, so I can't be certain; a shot of its back would confirm it.
Images 2 and 3: Dock Bug (Coreus marginatus), a common UK squashbug. The broad brown body, reddish antennae with darker tips and wide rounded abdomen all match.
Both are harmless: they feed on plants, don't bite people, and at most give off a mild smell if handled.
Why they're on the windows: in September both look for sheltered spots to overwinter, so they often turn up on glass and sills. You can just pop them outside.

[exxos]

Continuing the trend of everything x10 more effort than it needs to be..

Was expecting a delivery from FedEx today.. Just looked at tracking.. After fighting with FedEx site that kept saying the number was invalid!! Finally figured out the address its been sent to is different postcode somewhere the other side of town. So thats as good as lost now.

Alternatively, the tracking could have been one of recycled tracking number scams..

Anyway, took about 20 attempts on evilbay site message the seller.. Site still won't login with Firefox.. Same stupid error as before.. Worked in brave.. Took me ages to figure out the message box is basically white the same as the background and was hardly visible.. Again what is it with websites that can't even be bothered to even shade a box now so you have some chance of even seeing the bloody thing.

Can't open a dispute yet, evilbay won't let me until tomorrow.. Still might arrive apparently.. I doubt it.. Spent 20mins looking on Facebook groups to see if anyone posted anything.. Nope..

[exxos]

Looking into the problem above some more, the package was allegedly delivered to a industrial estate, the other side of town. So this opens up a whole kind of worms..

Firstly, the item was only about £30 and being sent FedEx would likely cost more than that to post it in the first place.

Secondly, how did a residential address which has no match to a industrial estate address whatsoever end up being delivered in the first place?

Generally if the address is right and the postcode is wrong the package is still managed to get delivered to the correct address. I have no way of knowing what was written on the package but the postcode was wrong for sure. Evilbay had my address with wrong postcode the rest looked correct. But what was actually written on the package could have literally been anything.

This basically reinforces my theory that it is a reused tracking code because the whole thing makes no sense whatsoever as to why a FedEx package would be sent from Bangladesh to UK for starters and how multiple address errors can still end up being delivered to a totally wrong address which would mean FedEx would have to have screwed up royally and just delivered it to any random building in that postcode which they should not be doing.

So I think the month-long delay of waiting was just basically waiting for a reused tracking number to appear and then they used that reused number to send to me and it was just pure dumb luck that some courier actually had a tracking link which was in the same town. This would explain the unusual choice of using FedEx rather than the cheapest options which China stuff normally uses.

I did not receive a response yet from my message last night, but I did have a new message from them basically apologizing that the passage had been delivered to the wrong address. So at least that part is honest in all this, but I just don't believe they actually posted the item in the first place and this isn't the first time this type of thing has happened to me either.

There was actually a Linus Tech Tip video which I mentioned months ago about this type of thing because there are websites like track17 where you can track any package from any courier via that website and while Linus did not outright accuse or make any accusations, he said it will be very easy for those tracking numbers to be sold to someone else at a cheap price as basically part of a scam, of course he had no proof against it, but there was certainly enough skepticism to raise the issue in the first place, which is exactly what I am doing now as well.