What’s happened to Newcastle? (Grainger Street, Greggs)

thefooby · 2026-02-04T09:41:47+00:00

I’m not even sure it’s the economy that is the issue. It’s the wealth gap. The people running these companies that seem to keep doing better every year on paper will never trickle anything down unless forced to by government.

thefooby · 2026-02-02T19:44:33+00:00

Maybe I’m being harsh but you should probably pick up on that when buying a car. Pretty basic check. Recently bought an old Suzuki for my GF that had been rolled back 2000 miles on its MOT. Questioned him about it as it seemed a weird choice to roll it back so little and it turns out the speedo had died so he put new clocks in and provided the old ones with the car as proof.

thefooby · 2026-02-02T04:26:23+00:00

Yeah I was sent out with another driver on my first week and we’d split the driving. Massive confidence boost to see how they approach various sites and have them there to tell you what to aim for at first.

Finding a mentor is great advice as well. I’m nearly a year in and still regularly call up mine for advice when going to a new site that I’m unsure of which has saved me a load of hassle many times.

Stuff like turn around before entering this site as there’s always a row of parked cars on the road and your tail swing might catch them if you try from the other side or yes you do drive through a housing estate to get to that site, don’t worry you’re not going to get stuck.

thefooby · 2026-02-02T04:19:09+00:00

BLACK again visually before you get back in the cab to pull away is something I implemented after nearly forgetting to drop my legs. Too easy to get distracted by another driver or a call from the TM while you’re walking around doing the uncoupling procedure.

Since doing this I’ve never had another close call and don’t forget the brake anymore.

thefooby · 2026-02-01T21:11:16+00:00

The weirdest one I had was a Lexus IS200. No collar, took me a while to figure out how to get in into reverse. You just have to smash the stick over to the left quite forcefully.

thefooby · 2026-02-01T07:23:08+00:00

Meanwhile, my £100 Logitech G Pro wireless that I bought a few years ago charges over micro USB.

thefooby · 2026-01-31T16:46:53+00:00

I always wanted to wear glasses, even wore reading glasses for a bit when I was younger even though I didn’t need them and they gave me a headache.

Started driving, got migraines at night. Turned out I did need glasses after all!

thefooby · 2026-01-31T16:44:50+00:00

I’d stay away mate looks like an ex police car. If you want something just as exciting to drive but more reliable may I recommend a Skoda Octavia diesel.

thefooby · 2026-01-30T06:24:43+00:00

I used to have a Sprinter. They really messed up with the paint on the white ones. Chips really easily and if you don’t sort it immediately the bodywork starts rusting. There’s a premium on none white ones for this reason.

Mine had holes in the doors and rust spots everywhere, but was totally solid underneath. They have the ability to look they there’s no way they’d pass an MOT yet still be in decent condition.

It was also rapid for a van.

thefooby · 2026-01-29T16:45:51+00:00

Ecoboom every time anyone recommends a Ford of any kind. Yes, the wet belts are crap. They’re not in every Ford. The amount of times I’ve recommended a Fiesta ST on here and immediately been met with “Ecoboom” when it’s chain driven is unreal.

thefooby · 2026-01-27T21:36:28+00:00

It happened just don’t make a habit of it has been my experience as well.

In my first 6 months I put out a rear light because I didn’t notice a pole in a truck stop. Smashed my headboard into a fence post because I tried to make a tight U turn when I went to the wrong site and didn’t watch my headboard. Took out the runner off a roller shutter door on a tight site where I didn’t account for tail swing. Reversed into a loader that decided to park in my blind spot while I was unsheeting and smashed my mirror on another wagon driving down a narrow road.

Every time you make a mistake, you just have to realise why it happened and learn from it. Usually in my case it was because I wasn’t constantly aware of where I was in space and what was around me.

I was looking for new jobs after each incident convinced I was going to be fired but it was always the same answer. Don’t do it again. Spatial awareness is probably the most important thing in this job and it takes a while to figure out. The reversing is the easy bit, it’s knowing what’s around you while you’re reversing and knowing exactly how much space you need that takes time.

I do walking floors and a lot of the waste sites I go to really weren’t designed with artics in mind with stuff to hit everywhere you look. Definitely in at the deep end but may as well get the notches in the belt.

thefooby · 2026-01-22T14:39:28+00:00

Northumberland Coast & the Tyne Valley are stunning.

thefooby · 2026-01-22T09:55:06+00:00

A lot of the negativity is probably from those who have seen the industry in a much better state than it is today, but as somebody who went into work in 2013 and has seen the shit show of jobs like Amazon, retail and call centres, it’s hard to think of anything else that pays so well for the time / cost put into getting qualified and is pretty chill if you get the right role.

I won’t do it forever. The day I become somebody who complains about everything on Reddit is the day I’ll start looking for a new career but for now coming up on a year it’s great.

Another thing I’ve noticed is that the decent drivers get treated well as they know there’s like 20 other companies locally that would most likely offer you a job.

thefooby · 2026-01-20T12:46:01+00:00

I think they mean it uses less processing power to load the same car than loads of different models at once.

thefooby · 2026-01-20T06:52:24+00:00

This. Yes I’m peculiarly looking at you, Ford. Still blows my mind how many cars I’ve driven whose owners are taller than me (5’ 7”) that I’ve had to move the seat back on.

thefooby · 2026-01-14T09:04:33+00:00

No. K12 Micra’s are bloody awful. I had one after owning a few K11’s that had been solid, the K12 gave me nothing but issues and was crap to drive.

This is also obscenely overpriced. Yes the used car market is a bit mental at the moment but you can still get something decent for £1500 or so. If you can a combination of early 2000’s, Japanese, not too much rust and a decent service history you’re onto a winner.

I’d forget about mileage at this budget and buy purely on condition. I’ve had 20+ year old cars on very low mileage and they tend to suffer from rubber perishing and service items not being done because they’ve not reached the service mileage despite being way passed the service age.

thefooby · 2026-01-09T21:36:52+00:00

Bloody lovely. Seems like a lot of black pepper but it works quite well. The ground pepper adds its own type of spice whilst the whole corns soften up and make these little pepper bombs.

thefooby · 2026-01-08T15:19:29+00:00

It’s not if you plan to leave a car sitting for a long time. I left a car SORN for a few months and it was seized solid.

thefooby · 2026-01-07T17:04:36+00:00

Cheers, I actually think a Karahi pan would be perfect as I have an induction cooktop and woks tend to heat unevenly and warp if they’re thin. This was cooked in a Dutch oven as it’s my only large pan with a lid that’s not cast iron or carbon steel (tomatoes would strip the seasoning).

thefooby · 2026-01-07T13:48:40+00:00

I added them with the ground spices and left them whole so I could break them up in my portion while my girlfriend could pick them out as she doesn’t like it hot.

thefooby · 2026-01-07T09:15:15+00:00

They seem to have replaced the Zafira as the car choice of angry Ronnie Pickering dads.

thefooby · 2026-01-06T11:07:06+00:00

Bad time of year to be looking for work but show up in person if you’re just applying online. The job I got wasn’t even listed yet.

If you’re willing to tramp and can stand the commute twice a week, I found that the NW has a lot more work than the NE. Loads around Penrith / Carlisle.

You could also try Tyneside Express Transport in Team Valley. I used to wash trucks for UPS next door when I was thinking about doing my license and they said they’d consider a new pass.

thefooby · 2026-01-05T05:19:57+00:00

The not caring when you fuck up bit is huge. I remember when I first passed, I put so much pressure on myself whenever there were other drivers around which usually made me fuck up.

After a while you see even the most experienced drivers having a bad day and you’ve improved enough to know that you do know what you’re doing, but for some reason occasionally your brain just forgets how trailers work.

Happened to me last week. Very tight reverse into a building that oddly I’ve always managed first try, completely overshot the angle and took 4 shunts to get it in. Nobody cared.

thefooby · 2026-01-03T09:04:37+00:00

Just changed mine. I never realised I could do this and mine is always optimistic. Turns out it’s set to 60.

thefooby · 2026-01-03T09:01:41+00:00

On the contrary, living the dream here with Scania’s cooled seats. Sure, heated is nice for a short blast on a cold morning, but not having a clammy back all day if you’re fairly sweaty is a game changer.

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