Quick rant thread.

[Choo 16]

Thank goodness I brew my own cup on most days. I debated getting one of the "cheaper" nespresso machines when on sale, but the humble french press still serves me well 

[Choo 16]

3 hours ago, E30 325i Rag-Top said:

There’s been a real bad harvest in Brazil I believe, which has pushed the price of beans through the roof as Qube mentioned above.

Uh oh... my current favourite is called the Brazil blend...

[gofaster 101]

I dont have a coffee machine at home as I use heading to the cafe as an excuse to get away from the work environment or get out of the house on weekends.

My brew of choice is a long black and am happy paying $4 - $4.50 currently but if I get a crap pour delivered it gets sent back as it is not hard to make it properly with the right training

you'll get there Driftit, just takes practise ☕ ☕☕

[gjm 3258]

18 hours ago, E30 325i Rag-Top said:

There’s been a real bad harvest in Brazil I believe, which has pushed the price of beans through the roof as Qube mentioned above.

Luckily I’m a Pom and drink tea mostly and whether it’s batch roasted barista or home made Nespresso tastes much the same to me 😳.

If it were the price of batch brewed Hazy IPAs going up, then I would be in a whole world of hurt..

Choose beans carefully - keep them in the freezer.
Grind slowly. I use a hand grinder.
Use a stove top coffee pot, a percolator, or a drip system.
Enjoy.
No need for fancy kit!

As for Hazy IPAs... I'm sure they only exist because of poor brewing practice! It's a great way to sell beer which didn't work out as expected.

[Twistee 454]

Desperately trying to get some very expensive electronics sent to Melbourne from Auckland, item was handed over to the courier 10 days ago.... it's still sitting at Auckland Airport - FFS!!!! I could have bought a return ticket business class and hand delivered it for less than the money that this has cost to date in lost production. 

[gjm 3258]

40 minutes ago, Twistee said:

Desperately trying to get some very expensive electronics sent to Melbourne from Auckland, item was handed over to the courier 10 days ago.... it's still sitting at Auckland Airport - FFS!!!! I could have bought a return ticket business class and hand delivered it for less than the money that this has cost to date in lost production. 

Normal for clearance via NZPost at Auckland Airport.
They are useless. Recent 'reason' is Covid, but it's been like this for as long as I can remember. Other couriers/carriers don't seem to have this problem.

[GorGasm 563]

Coffee:

The Sunbeam Barista Max EM5300 is legit.  I bought one after trying it at my brothers.  My inlaws then bought one, my sister in law bought one, her parents bought one, etc.

It comes with built in adjustable grinder so you can tune to the batch of beans.  Couple it with decent fresh beans and you get coffee that beats 9/10 coffee places.  I don't remember the last time I purchased a coffee that tastes better than what this machine can make.

There's also some very important, basic, rules to get a decent cup.

1. Fresh beans.  Old beans will make flat black coffee with little flavour.  Fresh will get you golden and delicious.
2. Right grind.  Too coarse and you get weaker, sour coffee.
3. Shop around to find a good bean that suits you.  I currently go to Raglan roast as it's local.  Allpress ART blend is a good one to try.

 

$488, can be had a tiny bit cheaper if Harvey Norman or someone puts it on super special.

https://www.heathcotes.co.nz/products/em5300s-sunbeam-barista-max-espresso-machine-em5300

 

Quote

 

 

Edited May 24, 2022 by GorGasm

[Driftit 2078]

2 hours ago, Twistee said:

Desperately trying to get some very expensive electronics sent to Melbourne from Auckland, item was handed over to the courier 10 days ago.... it's still sitting at Auckland Airport - FFS!!!! I could have bought a return ticket business class and hand delivered it for less than the money that this has cost to date in lost production. 

Yup it is an absolute nightmare at the moment.  Some of our competitors in the electronics hardware game are getting out of hardware full stop at the moment.  Sourcing and shipping parts is a massive problem.  Shipping is getting more expensive every week yet is less reliable.

[dirtydoogle 383]

8 hours ago, Driftit said:

Yup it is an absolute nightmare at the moment.  Some of our competitors in the electronics hardware game are getting out of hardware full stop at the moment.  Sourcing and shipping parts is a massive problem.  Shipping is getting more expensive every week yet is less reliable.

Yup. Bringing gear from Russia is a bit spendy now too. But, who needs power stations to work?

[Allanw 1071]

13 hours ago, dirtydoogle said:

Yup. Bringing gear from Russia is a bit spendy now too. But, who needs power stations to work?

Well... lucky we aren't trying to convert everything f**king thing, ever, to electric....

[jon dee 500]

And the mournful wail of two-stroke engines will no longer be heard on Sunday morning calling the faithful to their lawns and hedges... the valleys will be silent... the scent of the line trimmer and chainsaw gone forever... nothing more than a memory spoken of  in hushed tones when old men gather to reminisce about the sins of their youth...    

Cheers...

[huff3r 347]

Don't stress, the valleys won't be silent. The blades on an electric mower still make a bloody racket, enough to justify hearing protection.

I still love my ryobe one+ mower though.

[Driftit 2078]

6 hours ago, jon dee said:

And the mournful wail of two-stroke engines will no longer be heard on Sunday morning calling the faithful to their lawns and hedges... the valleys will be silent... the scent of the line trimmer and chainsaw gone forever... nothing more than a memory spoken of  in hushed tones when old men gather to reminisce about the sins of their youth...    

Cheers...

Ha I just sold my Milwaukee Electric line trimmer I purchased nearly 1 year back.  I was too cheap to buy the big batteries for it.  Which in NZD are over $300 each.  So I just used my drill batteries 10mins at a time.

I sold it for $10 more than I purchased it for.  $410.  Went straight down to the Stihl shop and used that $410 to buy the best non commercial 2 stroke for the same price.  Which is a far superior machine so far.

[jon dee 500]

Just in case you are feeling down and need a quick fix

 

Cheers...

[lord_jagganath 421]

Was just confronted by a dude who misheard my enthusiastic banter about my car with my sibling for something gang related. never been more afraid to be in this part of Auckland, please can I go home now. 

[gjm 3258]

I have a reasonably above-average income.

We have a 20% deposit for a below-average-price house.

We cannot get a mortgage to cover the difference because my income is "insufficient to maintain the loan."

[Young Thrash Driver 1020]

7 hours ago, gjm said:

I have a reasonably above-average income.

We have a 20% deposit for a below-average-price house.

We cannot get a mortgage to cover the difference because my income is "insufficient to maintain the loan."

Are they pricing the next decade of repayments at 10%+ yet?

[Choo 16]

Just finished the route past Kaiaua fisheries (no I didn't stop for fish and chips). Drive was somewhat ruined being stuck behind a camper van and horse carrier most of the time. At least the camper van driver was nice enough to let me pass when the opportunity presented itself. 

[Kees 594]

So I have a little bit of a rant. 

 

A few days ago I joined a VW NZ Facebook group, as I've been wanting to take my manual W8 to a meet, so figured a VW meet would be a good place to start. 

Anyway, once accepted into the group I posted a couple photos of the car, and got a few replies in the comments.

A member of the group then PM'd me asking if I would be interested in selling the car as he would love to have it in his personal collection. A quick browse of his Facebook showed he had an Audi S5 and a Porsche 911 997.1.5 Turbo, so it seemed reasonable he was seeking out such a rare and unique car, plus it showed he most likely had some deeper pockets. 

I replied saying I didn't really want to sell but everything is for sale, for the right price! 

I then quickly typed up a little summary of the car including all the work thats been done in the last 10,000km, sent a couple photos of the car and then asked what he thought it was worth to him.

Since there's only approximately 4 W8 6 Speed Manuals left in NZ (with the rest having been parted and one being exported overseas) it is an extremely hard car to value. Its worth exactly what someone wants to pay for it, there is literally no market. I believe my one is the only silver one, and I think is the most original, even having its original head unit, sales receipt, and plate combination, making it ideal for a diehard VW collector. Plus in the last 10,000km its had clutch, clutch master cylinder, engine mounts, rocker cover gaskets, fuel pump and filter, wheel bearing, thrust arm bushings, cv boots, brake hoses, and to top it off, currently has 4 Potenza RE003s on it. With the prices of things like MK4 R32s climbing in value, to the right person, I think my car could be worth a decent amount of money seeing as its rare as hens teeth, has R32 performance, and imo makes one of the coolest exhaust noises of any VW. (I also understand some people would rather have a testicular torsion than a W8 lol)

Basically, its a very niche car.

I sent him a screenshot of the only other manual W8 I've ever seen for sale, which was up on Facebook for $15K with 70+ listing saves (indicating it must a popular listing) and had half the ks of my one, but was lowered, with commodore style hideous wheels etc and looked to have been messed around with. Whether mine being largely original is worth more or less is a shoulder shrugging exercise, but I sent it through nevertheless mainly to show him that I didn't really want W8 Auto money (2.5-5K) for my manual car.  

He replied saying he doesn't like to make offers on cars he hasn't seen, to which I replied that he is more than welcome to come round and have a look at the car. 

He then rather rudely told me I was wasting his time as he wanted me to give him a ballpark figure for "MY specific one!!".

Not sure what he was expecting but since he had come to me with a big spiel about how he wanted it in his personal collection, the fact I don't really want to sell the car unless its for a decent amount, his poor attitude, and that naturally you first price high so you don't accidentally undersell what you have, and have some leverage for negotiation, I logically gave him a ball park of $15K, which is exactly what the last one was for sale for (not particularly unreasonable I thought).  

And then he sees my message, no reply....

Absolute waste of my time, if he actually wanted a manual W8 you would think he might be a bit more inclined to negotiate. It could be years before another one comes up for sale. Or, go put an 01E from an S4 in an auto one, and spend more money than buying a factory manual. 

My guess is he just wanted to try score a big engine + a manual for cheap, and maybe even try flip it or something. The cheapest WOF/Reg 4.0L or bigger manual car on Trademe is that thrashed cherry red E39 540 which has been up for months for 10K, followed by a manual B6 S4 for 13.5K. 

But anyway, rant over. 

Edited June 7, 2022 by Kees

[Sammo 2544]

@Kees annoying, I would expect if I was to proactively attempt to prise a car from someone, I should be the one making the offer, rather than expecting the non-seller placing a value on it.

[E30 325i Rag-Top 2956]

On 6/5/2022 at 11:19 AM, Choo said:

 Drive was somewhat ruined being stuck behind a camper van and horse carrier most of the time. At least the camper van driver was nice enough to let me pass when the opportunity presented itself. 

I always find the horsey types the worst on the road, either pulling a horse float or a horse truck. Never pull over, and often have a massive queue behind them. When there’s been a big horse event on they end up driving in convoys together oblivious to everyone else that wants to get home.

I understand horses are not cheap, but if you’re worried about moving your fragile asset on the road then stay at home with it!

[lord_jagganath 421]

 I didn't plan for this/ 

[Cement 871]

If this were my kids doing I could understand it ... and probably change it. Instead I correct it and bite my tongue ... over ... and ... over ... again 😆

Edited June 10, 2022 by Cement

[Driftit 2078]

Spent 2hrs 45mins sitting at the Remutaka Summit on Sat night in the 130i.
Ran over a fresh rock fall on the way up heading to Wellington.  A swerve saved me from serious underbody damage.  But ran over some of the small stuff.
A piece of it went straight though the bottom of the tyre and destroyed it.

Not that it would have saved me.  But the can of air and seal failed and would not discharge.

Lots of break downs meant I had to wait the 2hrs 45mins to get rescued 15mins from my house.

And the tyre size I need is no longer available.  So now I have mismatched front and rear which annoys me.

[Sammo 2544]

On 6/10/2022 at 7:13 PM, Cement said:

If this were my kids doing I could understand it ... and probably change it. Instead I correct it and bite my tongue ... over ... and ... over ... again 😆

Could be soup spoons facing the wrong way up haha