Gripe of the day - What is yours?

[Seeker]

A totally trivial gripe: opening a plastic container of apple juice using only my left (non dominant) hand. The container is made of soft plastic but, when full, has sufficient rigidity to allow it to be gripped with one hand whilst the other twists the cap and breaks the seal. Since my right wrist is buggered, I have been holding containers between my knees and using my left hand to twist off the various lids, it's worked till now. The problem is that when I successfully broke the initial seal of the juice bottle it allowed the container to collapse as the air came out. Since the lid was still tight I had to keep squeezing but now the juice was starting to run down my legs. No matter what I tried I couldn't grip the body without squeezing and releasing another trickle of juice. Eventually, I gave up trying to get the cap off and used a bradawl to pierce the bottle and decanted it to another container.
Other related gripes: peeling a banana and a satsuma one handed.

[Seeker]

Another gripe, a little more annoying. I received my NHS vaccination invite letter today Tried to book an appt and the website is down

[DJ123]

Originally Posted by Seeker

A totally trivial gripe: opening a plastic container of apple juice using only my left (non dominant) hand. The container is made of soft plastic but, when full, has sufficient rigidity to allow it to be gripped with one hand whilst the other twists the cap and breaks the seal. Since my right wrist is buggered, I have been holding containers between my knees and using my left hand to twist off the various lids, it's worked till now. The problem is that when I successfully broke the initial seal of the juice bottle it allowed the container to collapse as the air came out. Since the lid was still tight I had to keep squeezing but now the juice was starting to run down my legs. No matter what I tried I couldn't grip the body without squeezing and releasing another trickle of juice. Eventually, I gave up trying to get the cap off and used a bradawl to pierce the bottle and decanted it to another container.
Other related gripes: peeling a banana and a satsuma one handed.

Install a Vice in the kitchen - problem solved.

[shiftin_gear98]

Or put on waterproof trousers and wellies.

[Seeker]

Originally Posted by DJ123

Install a Vice in the kitchen - problem solved.

Originally Posted by shiftin_gear98

Or put on waterproof trousers and wellies.

thank you, I think, for these helpful suggestions of methods of transferring apple juice to my body and/or kitchen floor.

[redtrummy]

For jars e.t.c with tight tops I grip the top using a car oilfilter remover - the one with a metal band and screw thread, works a treat

[Seeker]

Originally Posted by redtrummy

For jars e.t.c with tight tops I grip the top using a car oilfilter remover - the one with a metal band and screw thread, works a treat

...but on a soft plastic bottle using only one hand? If my wrist wasn't broken I could cope but with one hand, gripping and stabilising is a problem - especially on a squeezable container.

[Seeker]

Originally Posted by Seeker

Another gripe, a little more annoying. I received my NHS vaccination invite letter today Tried to book an appt and the website is down

tried again...

...hooray it's working...

enter date(s), times into a very slow site and...
it tells me they're no longer available...

...back to beginning...
select vaccination centre (again)...
...dates, times...
...and it crashes.

I give up (for today).

edit: change of plan - I tried again using Firefox instead of Brave browser and it worked more quickly and successfully this time.

[DJ123]

Originally Posted by redtrummy

For jars e.t.c with tight tops I grip the top using a car oilfilter remover - the one with a metal band and screw thread, works a treat

Or simply put some hot/boiling water in a bowl, immerse only the lid for a few seconds and it should help to release it (obv use a tea towel or something to hold the lid afterwards)

[svenrico]

Originally Posted by ethariel

Like the idea or loathe it, the funding for the NHS is not a bottomless cup and to be honest the cup ran dry decades ago.
Healthcare Trusts made stupid decisions like building new Hospitals under a PFI agreement to try to modernise creaky old infrastructure (and way too late realised just how bad a deal a PFI really is).
The current NHS is an administrative top heavy nightmare with many more staff in non clinical roles than you would expect, running on IT infrastructure a 30 year old wouldn't recognise.
Will it change overnight? - No, it will creep in over the next 10 to 30 years till only a basic NHS service is offered and anything above essentially life saving care will require a cash or insurance funded payment to process.
Just do not ever expect taxes to drop when NHS funding is dropped by 70 or 80% over that period as that 'Saving' will in all probability be paid to the companies offering said services as a backhander for doing so.
Am I wrong? - I truly hope I am but fear I am not.

They shouldn't have needed hindsight to realise PFI was going to be a bad deal!
The government does seem to have a habit of paying more than necessary by awarding contracts to private companies !
Dentist recently recommended deep cleaning which he could do straight away privately for £100. I opted for having it done on NHS and found I would have to wait 6 months . Since seen it costs about £65 on NHS!
Not that long ago you could go to dentist for 6 month check up and they would automatically do a scale and polish at the same time for about £15 !
You would think after everything that has gone on this last year the NHS would be safe but you can't trust what politicians say can you ?!