Scottish pensioners rage at Virgin cabinet blocking their view Scottish pensioners are up in arms that Virgin Media has had the audacity to build a huge cabinet outside their homes in East Renfrewshire, near Glasgow, which is reported to be blocking their light. The OAPs have been fighting Virgin Media since the 5ft boxes were installed in their street in January, according to the Daily …
Just how big do you think the Barrowland Market is?
As compared to the "police station" used in Taggart - surely it's the largest in the world. In one episode they went in the front door (Strathclyde University), and looked out the office window at the Kingston Bridge (the old Strathclyde Council Roads Dept office) which is over a mile away, as the crow flies.
"In one episode they went in the front door (Strathclyde University), and looked out the office window at the Kingston Bridge (the old Strathclyde Council Roads Dept office) which is over a mile away, as the crow flies."
They were good at that .. there was one episode where they were having a conversation on the pontoons in Kip Marina (on the Clyde coast) and continued the scene, and sentence, along Portobello promenade on the other side of the country.
Watch almost any TV program set in a place you know well, and you'll see characters perform all sorts of teleportation tricks.
It's probably related to the way that alien planets in Doctor Who all used to look suspiciously like a quarry in Whales, and every planet with a Stargate mimicked Canada.
>>>>>>> I'm saying it's aliens.
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Are they really going to miss the 2 whole days of sunshine they get?
I think they are more interested in watching the neighbors and who's driving up and down their street. Seems many older folks spend a lot of time doing that. I'm thinking it's like watching a live soap opera. or something.
"I think they are more interested in watching the neighbors and who's driving up and down their street. Seems many older folks spend a lot of time doing that. I'm thinking it's like watching a live soap opera. or something."Speaking as an old fart, it's more a matter of thinking to yourself as you watch: "Look at those poor fuckers having to go to work..."
“But the plans were on display…”
“On display? I eventually had to go down to the cellar to find them.”
“That’s the display department.”
“With a flashlight.”
“Ah, well, the lights had probably gone.”
“So had the stairs.”
“But look, you found the notice, didn’t you?”
“Yes,” said Arthur, “yes I did. It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying ‘Beware of the Leopard.”
― Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
There’s no point in acting surprised about it. All the planning charts and demolition orders have been on display at your local planning department in Alpha Centauri for 50 of your Earth years, so you’ve had plenty of time to lodge any formal complaint and it’s far too late to start making a fuss about it now. ... What do you mean you’ve never been to Alpha Centauri? Oh, for heaven’s sake, mankind, it’s only four light years away, you know. I’m sorry, but if you can’t be bothered to take an interest in local affairs, that’s your own lookout. Energize the demolition beams.
There’s no point in acting surprised about it. All the planning charts and demolition orders have been on display at your local planning department in Alpha Centauri for 50 of your Earth years, so you’ve had plenty of time to lodge any formal complaint and it’s far too late to start making a fuss about it now. ... What do you mean you’ve never been to Alpha Centauri? Oh, for heaven’s sake, mankind, it’s only four light years away, you know. I’m sorry, but if you can’t be bothered to take an interest in local affairs, that’s your own lookout. Energize the demolition beams.
I resemble those remarks ! Im being quoted out of context!
Fail to see? Look at the daily fail pictures for fuck sake - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4857918/Pensioners-battle-Virgin-Media.html
Yes, LITERALLY in front of the window. Looks to be a couple of metres at best. It's obviously not blocking light but you now have essentially a big fucking grey wall right outside your LIVING ROOM window. You know, that room of the house that people tend to spend the most time in.
"It's obviously not blocking light" so despite your rant and criticising those for saying it doesn't, you agree with them. Debate 101 is next door.
Look at the photo; the shadow shows where that blocked light is.
Complaining about a blocked view is one thing. Claiming it blocks all light is just hyperbolic nonsense.
It's clearly blocking the glorious view of the houses opposite, but "blocking all the light"? Even with the nice low sun in the Mail photos, the shadows don't reach the building let alone the windows.
Seems stupid that Virgin and BT aren't obliged to place them against walls / hedges at the roadside, or to make rental agreements to put them against the side of building. (the walls, not windows. Then the biddies would really have something to complain about).
Seems stupid that Virgin and BT aren't obliged to place them against walls / hedges at the roadside
Well, how would that help? Look at this gem of an installation in Droitwich, courtesy of the idiots of Openreach.
Some people are stupid. Some people are very stupid. But the elite stupidests, the people who have a natural stupidity, but also work at it, and continuously refine and build their stupidity...they work as planners for BT Openreach and Virginmedia, it would seem.
"Well, how would that help? Look at this gem of an installation in Droitwich, courtesy of the idiots of Openreach."
And not forgetting, of course, this well placed bus shelter, so those people morons don't limit themselves to comms.
There are times I wish people would say why they're downvoting things - I wasn't aware I was saying anything downvote-worthy. Hohum.
That Droitwich box is glorious. It's there in two different streetviews too, 2015 and 2016. The box a few feet down is in a hole in the wall, so I wonder if BT were clueless twunts or if they put it in before the houses were done and the builder was to fault. They seem equally (un)likely culprits.
Looking at the very young age of the houses and the new wall, plus the atypically large space left one suspects that BT has installed first, and then the builder built the wall and house behind it. You've even got to wonder if BT has actually moved that left cabinet over by a foot or two as well judged by the brand new pavement that's already got a hole been dug in it.
I mean, Openreach is bad. But that has to be a set of builders. Even Openreach isin't *THAT* bad.
"seems absurd to put cabinets that big on the street, surprised they haven't been accidentally flattened"
The planning exemptions were probably put in place when the average street box was no more than about 3' tall and maybe 1' deep. No one thought to put restrictions on what was covered by the exemptions, like a maximum size.
...with all you people making light of this? The pictures say it all - this is an absolute blight on these people's lives, and it's a total disgrace that Virgin have been allowed to do it. Disgusting behaviour yet again from a corporation and from the council that's supposed to be looking after the interests of its citizens.
I'd normally jump in and denigrate the old biddies since they have a habit of blocking my drive in their overwhelming urge to park 3 feet closer to the church nearby and infesting M&S at lunchtime like a middle-class Dawn of the Dead...
But that would piss me off as well. Ok it was hardly a view of Loch Lomond but it wouldn't be nice for anyone to have a feckin shipping container dumped within 4m of their house which is what this looks like.
The BBC Article has pictures. If this was my home I'd be a bit upset too.
Simple. The people who buy from them are even dimmer still... It's the 'talk talk' effect - no matter what you do to your existing customer base if you sell your product cheaply enough then muppets will always buy it.
Interestingly enough the average life expectancy in Renfrewshire is 82.8 years so this problem would appear to be somewhat self-limiting, I'd tell her to give it a year and see what happens.
Quote:
no matter what you do to your existing customer base if you sell your product cheaply enough then muppets will always buy it.
OI Some of us have'nt got any choice when it comes to decent internet speeds... No way I'm going back to a BT openretch supplied murdoch offering... Yay you can have any speed you like, and indeed we'll sell you any speed you like , but dont complain if you only get 50K between 6pm and 11pm
"How are these people still in business if they're so dim?"
They are part of the Liberty Global plc empire.
Its cable services pass 55.8 million homes, with 28.6 million customers or 59 million RGUs (video, internet, and voice subscribers)
Or in this case, pass slap bang in front of some of those 55.8 million homes.
P.S. RGU = Revenue Generating Unit, which is the phrase they use internally instead of that old fashioned word "customer".
Yours sincerely,
an ex-Revenue Generating Unit
are that the unsightly street furniture has lowered the value of their property relative to the other houses in the street and when they discovered that virgin are able to just lob what they want where they want without regard to house owners or planning permission.
Given cable companies historically low regard for the property rights of house owners, I can understand their issue.
Normal planning permission test is if the new build cannot be seen from neighbors windows and to be fair it does block their view
"Given cable companies historically low regard for the property rights of house owners, I can understand their issue."
The mess that subcontractors made of the beautiful York stone pavements in the village I lived in 20 years ago are a lasting testament to that.
Bitter experience says they won't get very far with the planning permission route.
A relative once tried to get a neighbour's extension vetoed on the grounds of it blocking out their living room light and got precisely nowhere.
The planning permission laws are very much in favour of property developers, to the detriment of existing residents.
my sister inlaw moved into a lovely new house about 6 months ago, entire street completed then BT came in to fit FTTC cabs in the street, they planted it halfway across her neighbours drive......BTW then spent the last 4 weeks moving it across the road! :P
a speshal breed.
Hello Pompous Git, have an up vote for helping all those confused Brits I manged to fool, and for not mention anything about spell checkers.
All well down there I hope, up here it's getting cold wet and dark too early. I wish I could join all those noisy birds shouting at each other about how to travel south in style. And why not for the birds too.
Hello Lars, have an upvote for giving me the chance to make yet another foolish comment :-)
Well it's been a long, dry, cold winter. Now it's wet, cold and snowing. Usually we have much warmer weather at this time and the Welcome Swallows would have arrived. Instead we have Currawongs (large crows) visiting from the highlands and making a mess of things when they're bored. We usually don't see them after July.
Buy a bigger box with a built in smoke generator. Fix that over the top of the current one and have your own lock. Then set off the smoke and watch virgin come and figure out how to fix it.
But seriously, I guess that we all would be annoyed if something that large appeared in our window view. I imagine they are at an age where there is little to do other than watch the world go by and even that ability has been reduced. It would be similar to keeping the curtains closed all the time.
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