Pet Hates........or FFS

[Macca]

To coin a phrase.

[Pigmy Pony]

I know some people get wound up by all these limited edition coins, but I don't give a toss.

[Macca]

I'm getting pissed off with the vending machine at work. There is only one and the selection is crap. All weird flavours of crisps, Worcester Sauce, Thai prawn, all that shit. No plain or smokey bacon. And there's Hula Hoops in there. Salt and vinegar and cheese and onion. It's an office block not a primary school!

Almost all the chocolate selection is nestles' sugary crap. Although I do still like a Drifter, that's the only ex Rowntrees product they didn't ruin. But typically there's none of them in there. I mean it isn't much to ask is it that in 2018 in an office block that is not in a war or plague zone that the vending machine would have plain crisps in it?

[walpurgis]

Bet the bags are smaller than standard and cost more too.

[Pigmy Pony]

I have a vending machine at home. It's called the cupboard. Has all my favourites in it. Always plain or Salt 'n' vinegar for me.

[Macca]

Bet the bags are smaller than standard and cost more too.

70p or a quid. Chocolate is 80p a hit. Right rob-dogs but you can sometimes get a two-for-one or even a three-for-one when they haven't packed it properly. So that sort of makes up for it. Even so the bloke who owns the company must have bought a boat off of me alone over the past 12 years. It costs so much to go to work it's hardly worth the bother.

[Minstrel SE]

Yeah vending machines are rob dogs with a naff selection because they know we are trapped and desperate.

I can now walk in to a hotel fridge room and see fresh blackberries cakes, fresh salmon and all sorts. I cant touch any of it though as Im only allowed a pre prepared sandwich

My main FFS today is people who produce Fake goods. I have just been sent a fake Casio and the originals are only about £6 so some robbing **ats have set about faking it and making it so inferior that it doesnt even work properly. The most annoying thing is whats the point as the clasp broke immediately and the hands loosely fell round the dial when you pulled the setting pin out.

The thing is so bad that it could only be passed off on a street sale if the seller does a runner soon afterwards

So they have produced a fake £6 watch which is being sold on an online auction site. The margins must be so slim its not worth risking a reputation. Luckily the seller saw sense and refunded immediately but they must know its a fake..shame on them

I dont even mind some copies as long as its marked as a different brand copy and is of reasonable quality for the money

[Sherwood]

I'm getting pissed off with the vending machine at work. There is only one and the selection is crap. All weird flavours of crisps, Worcester Sauce, Thai prawn, all that shit. No plain or smokey bacon. And there's Hula Hoops in there. Salt and vinegar and cheese and onion. It's an office block not a primary school!

Almost all the chocolate selection is nestles' sugary crap. Although I do still like a Drifter, that's the only ex Rowntrees product they didn't ruin. But typically there's none of them in there. I mean it isn't much to ask is it that in 2018 in an office block that is not in a war or plague zone that the vending machine would have plain crisps in it?

My school had a drinks vending machine donated by Peter Sellers who was a pupil for a brief period. I am convinced that it was an elaborate practical joke on his part designed to bring the school down. It was a 1960s device that added tepid water to powders. Each choice tasted vile and there was a lot of cross contamination (e.g. hot chocolate and oxtail; coffee and orange squash). The machine was constantly breaking down and each Friday the Head Boy, known as "Tufty" due to an elaborate bouffant, attended the machine to refund those who claimed to have lost money in the machine. I don't know how the machine was viable as every pupil and some teachers seemed to claim a refund. The fact that the machine would accept virtually any metal disc as legitimate payment did not help. I remember the 1970 Esso World Cup coins worked quite well. For snacks, we had a human vending system, a Tuck Shop located in a small cupboard. I never had a sweet tooth myself, but I recall Curly Wurlys and Marathon Bars being very popular. Crisps were available, but I don't recall any choices other than take them or leave them (Smiths Crisps with the little blue salt sachets)!

Geoff

[Pigmy Pony]

I remember when the salt provided with Smiths crisps came in a piece of twisted up blue paper. They were my favourite. Then in the eighties Smiths revived them, putting the salt in a sealed sachet, and they didn't seem quite the same. Maybe Smiths had changed the formula slightly to make them healthier.

On the subject of vending machine woes: In the seventies some clever soul discovered that if you put a small elastic band around the rim of a ten pence piece you could fool the cigarette machine into thinking it was a 50p. It was a free for all for a couple of days with our pubs fag machine until it was time to re-stock, and all these 10p's and elastics fell out. This must have been happening all over town

After that the bar staff watched us like hawks, but still lost a fair bit more until an engineer could get out and spoil our fun.

[Beobloke]

I mean it isn't much to ask is it that in 2018 in an office block that is not in a war or plague zone that the vending machine would have plain crisps in it?

Sorry, but plain crisps? Why would you bother??!

On the vending machine front, I remember the coolest one ever in Southampton Central Swimming Baths when I was a kid and it dispensed....freshly cooked chips!!

You put your 50p in and you could watch as it dispensed a portion of pre-cut chips into a basket, lowered them into hot oil and fried them for a pre-determined period.

It then lifted the basket, jerked it a few times to shake the oil off, then up-ended it and they came tumbling down a chute into a drawer at the front. You retrieved them from this and tipped them into a paper bag from a pile sat next to the machine. They were hotter than the surface of the sun but tasted great, especially after you’d been swimming.

The machine was out of order more than it was working but it was still amazing and I’ve never seen another one. I keep looking for one on eBay as I quite fancy one for the kitchen...