You Know What Really Grinds My Gears?

[AndyC]

I love living in a house that was built in the '60s, and every time you want to fix something, you get a replacement part - but they've changed the spec's just ever-so-slightly since your original part was made.  Look at it in the store - identical to the old part.  Too bad the bolts - which have identical threads - have been increased in diameter by about 1/5th of a millimeter, just enough so they go halfway in and it would take 100 lbs of torque to get another turn out of them. 

Or the bathtub overflow thing, where you open and close the drain.  It goes over a metal plate which has got a couple of bumps on it - in just the right place to keep you from getting the new cover on it, so it's about 2 degrees out of alignment and you can't get the screws to go in all the way.  The old screws that is - the new ones that came with the part are three times too long   

I mean, would it really kill them to standardize this junk?  Is there any reason they have to change the size of the bolts that hold the faucets onto a laundry tub?  Was there a rash of breakages, and the industry decided to increase the bolt diameter by 1%?   

Somewhere along the line, technology made it possible to design things to fit together so perfectly and assemble so efficiently at the factory, that designers forgot about the guy who has to change one part later on. You end up with car engines that need to be lifted off their mounts to change the plugs, and laptops that need to be completely disassembled from the top down to get at something right behind the back cover. Remember when you could lift the hood of your car and find the engine in the centre of a reasonably spacious compartment, with your wiper motor, power steering, battery, cooling system, heater and even parts of the front suspension all spread around it within easy reach?

That was back when cars were also built around as many standard parts as possible, interchangeable between a range of models and years. I loved that, back when I could take a part off pretty much any GM car made from the late 70s to the late 80s and put it in my 81 Buick. Under the hood and under the floorboards, it was the General Motors "G" platform. I put a rear sway bar from an 87 Monte SS on that thing, and it fit beautifully. Headlights came in round or rectangular, large or small. Air filters were round and came in a few sizes, although various filter housings could be attached to the same carburetor. Ignition coils were pretty much universal, coming in regular or HEI. You could even swap quite a few engine and drive train parts between cars from the same manufacturer, even between a small-block 350 and the Buick 231 I had. Unlike today, they didn't reinvent the wheel for every part of every car every couple of years. They used as much off the shelf as they could.

We certainly have made progress since then.

[Flick James]

People who feel the need to s**t all over a person once they find out they're happy or in a good mood, because they are petty and bitter people.

My wife works at a place that has a lot of those people.

She emailed me earlier today about the latest incident. I told her, there are two ways to deal with that situation.

One, be happy but just don't tell anybody about it. If they're petty and bitter and want to bring you down, don't give them the opportunity.

Or,

Two, be happy in spite of them. If they know they're barking up the wrong tree and can't bring you down no matter what they do, eventually they will stop trying.

[Jack]

Pruned our shrubs this weekend.  Had some small branches I cut off.  I cut them up into even smaller branches.  Of course our garbage man wouldn't take those.  So the 46 year old just spend an hour cutting the small branches into minuscule twigs so our 30 year old garbage man will be able to spend 20 seconds putting them in his truck.

The funny part is, just about everybody in this entire town has switched to another garbage company and yet that's how they show their appreciation to their one remaining loyal customer. 

Oh well, that's the last week I'll be dealing with that outfit.   

[ghouck]

Pruned our shrubs this weekend.  Had some small branches I cut off.  I cut them up into even smaller branches.  Of course our garbage man wouldn't take those.  So the 46 year old just spend an hour cutting the small branches into minuscule twigs so our 30 year old garbage man will be able to spend 20 seconds putting them in his truck.

The funny part is, just about everybody in this entire town has switched to another garbage company and yet that's how they show their appreciation to their one remaining loyal customer. 

Oh well, that's the last week I'll be dealing with that outfit.   

Make sure to tell them exactly why, and if they see your side of it, perhaps they will make it up to you.

[Nightowl]

People who come up and ask you to come join their church(this also includes commercials). It's one thing to be religious, but when you start advertising someone to come to your church, that just makes me feel uneasy.

[Psycho Circus]

People who come up and ask you to come join their church(this also includes commercials). It's one thing to be religious, but when you start advertising someone to come to your church, that just makes me feel uneasy.

Exactly, and if it's so great then you would have joined already...

[Mr. DS]

People who feel the need to s**t all over a person once they find out they're happy or in a good mood, because they are petty and bitter people.

My wife works at a place that has a lot of those people.

She emailed me earlier today about the latest incident. I told her, there are two ways to deal with that situation.

One, be happy but just don't tell anybody about it. If they're petty and bitter and want to bring you down, don't give them the opportunity.

Or,

Two, be happy in spite of them. If they know they're barking up the wrong tree and can't bring you down no matter what they do, eventually they will stop trying.

Heh, heh.  Sounds like my workplace. If someone gets a nod from someone else in upper mgmt they go apeshi!t hating on them claiming they were kissing @ss or whatever.  I've learned to simply do what people complain about more often just to p!ss them off.  Especially if its about something that makes me look good to others.

[Mr. DS]

People who come up and ask you to come join their church(this also includes commercials). It's one thing to be religious, but when you start advertising someone to come to your church, that just makes me feel uneasy.

Exactly, and if it's so great then you would have joined already...

I've always thought churches that do this are trying to convince themselve what they believe is actually real.  Kind of pathetic really if you think about it.

[AndyC]

People who do you favours you didn't ask for, then throw them up in your face later on, when they want something from you.

[Mr. DS]

People who do you favours you didn't ask for, then throw them up in your face later on, when they want something from you.

Or in my case people who give you advice you never asked for.

[Rev. Powell]

People who do you favours you didn't ask for, then throw them up in your face later on, when they want something from you.

Or in my case people who give you advice you never asked for.

That really shouldn't bother you, Darksider.  You need to "stop sweating the little stuff." 

[indianasmith]

People who come up and ask you to come join their church(this also includes commercials). It's one thing to be religious, but when you start advertising someone to come to your church, that just makes me feel uneasy.

Exactly, and if it's so great then you would have joined already...

I've always thought churches that do this are trying to convince themselve what they believe is actually real.  Kind of pathetic really if you think about it.

Maybe it's just because they are trying to follow the Great Commission found in Matthew 28: 19 - 20.  And if you never actually visit their church, how do you know it ISN'T a great place?

[Mr. DS]

People who come up and ask you to come join their church(this also includes commercials). It's one thing to be religious, but when you start advertising someone to come to your church, that just makes me feel uneasy.

Exactly, and if it's so great then you would have joined already...

I've always thought churches that do this are trying to convince themselve what they believe is actually real.  Kind of pathetic really if you think about it.

Maybe it's just because they are trying to follow the Great Commission found in Matthew 28: 19 - 20.  And if you never actually visit their church, how do you know it ISN'T a great place?

I'm fine as is thanks. 

[indianasmith]

Not trying to be preachy, or bust your chops.
Knee-jerk hostility to people of faith is something that grinds my gears, that's all!
Peace!


Oh  . . .  and one other thing - I think I saw a picture of you on here at one time, and "fine" was NOT the adjective that came to mind!

[bob]

Jehovah witnesses 

I hate them, hate them, hate them, hate em. They've been harrasing me at home for about 3 years now. I work from home and I park my car in the street so they know when I'm home.

Next time they come I'm thinking of telling them I'm busy and if they'll kindly give me their address I'll stop by. When they no, I'll say is it because you don't want people buggin you at home. They'll say yes. Then I'll say, now you know how I feel and slam the door on them.