The Peckish Synapse

[Grumpy Bear]

Perfect Judgement 

 

About mid week I out driving around and needing a few things of grocery I stopped in at an old Super Value in a small town that's along one of my favorited drives. Privately owned small town stores can be treasures and this one hit all the marks. 

 

Not familiar with the lay out I ask a lady where she thought I might find this or that and noticed a guy about my age patiently standing a few feet away staring at me like a kid at a baseball game looking for an autograph. That's uncomfortable at my age wondering how I know this fellow and why I don't recognize him! Lady walks away having said what there was to say and he takes a step toward me so I say, "Hi" to which he replies;

 

"Is that YOUR red standard sitting outside?" He didn't wait for my reply but I nodded just the same. 

 

"How long did the restoration take and how much did it cost?" he continues adding that he was a ex-drag racer and really likes my work. 

 

"It's not restored", I start and get the BS wave of the hand. "I bought it ever so slightly used and just maintain it".

 

"Why ?" I inquire. "Do you think it's restored?"

 

"It's too perfect not to be" he deadpans. "I tired to get closer but your dog objected". 

 

"Truck actually belongs to that dog. He just lets me drive him around", I laugh. 

 

"You mind if I wait and get a better look?" So when I'm finished I find him outside waiting and give he the quarter tour and introduce him to Rex. We talk about racing and maintaining some and bided each farewell. 

 

When he left I was very pleased. Not because someone admired the outcome under my care....

 

Because the fellow judged the TRUCK...on it's MERRITS and not the person maintaining it.

 

He saw the work and not the person.

He judged the methods by their results.

 

 

We didn't even trade names and I expect I'll never see him again but I appreciate such people all the same. If I were not there he would have enjoyed himself the same just looking and snapping a few mental photos. A fellow with the background to comment and all he had was an ear to ear grin and honest questions.

 

Perfect outing considering the store had everything I came for and few things I didn't expect.

 

 

 

Edited October 8, 2021 by Grumpy Bear

[Grumpy Bear]

https://www.caranddriver.com/research/a32758625/how-many-miles-does-a-car-last/

 

How Many Miles Does a Car Last?

The Bureau of Transportation indicates that the average age across the board for vehicles still on the road is just over 11 years according to Autotrader, and the average may be approaching 12 years. Standard cars in this day and age are expected to keep running up to 200,000 miles, while cars with electric engines are expected to last for up to 300,000 miles.

Keeping a car that long has a lot of benefits, including the fact that it could save you a great deal of money. Some estimate that the cost savings for driving a car that long could be as much as $30,000 or even higher, according to Carousel Preowned. In the end, however, it comes down to you, your driving habits, and what you want out of the vehicle you drive.

To some degree, it depends on the vehicle. A number of makes and models out there are known for their longevity and reliability, and others are known for having problems. Naturally, doing your research and choosing a better-built car will likely result in you owning one that lasts for more miles, according to Autotrader. Still, your driving habits also play a powerful role—the harder you drive the car, the less mileage it will withstand.

[shakenfake]

I love how they say cars with electric engines, it's a motor lmao

[Grumpy Bear]

Receipts 

 

Pump asks if you want a receipt. Yes. Then it says go inside to get what you should get at the pump. 

Okay moron, here's the thing. I said yes so I wouldn't have to go inside. It already takes fifty buttons and an act of congress just to get gas and enough is just enough. Make a thing harder than it needs to be and I will loose interest in a New York second. I'm not coming inside and impulse buying whatever you have next to the register. I'm not buying a 'free" car wash to save a nickel a gallon. I will chuck that worthless squeegee in the trash where it belongs. 

This holds true for more than receipts. Suffer to many commercials during a movie and I change channels. Tell me I have to go in person for what you told me I could do on line and I will go without. Robocall me for a WHATEVER seven times a week during dinner and I block your number. As many times as I have to. If that doesn't work I shut the phone off and toss the answering machine in the trash Be difficult just to be difficult, irrational, unruly, and you're ignored. I'm making a few changes. If I don't reply to you....your one of them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[BigBlueLB756]

Who dares to say there's no truth on the interweb.

Rightly said, sir!

[Grumpy Bear]

3 hours ago, BigBlueLB756 said:

Who dares to say there's no truth on the interweb.

Rightly said, sir!

 

Thanks George!

 

Imagine you've invited a few people to your home (thread) and they get into an argument with each other or with you for that matter, then get mad at you and turn on you like a pack of wolves because you object. Now I've never been a big Emily Post sort of guy and yea, I eat fried chicken with my fingers but when I'm in someone else's home I know better than to pee in their sink. And yea...in the heat of the moment I've done the same. No saints live at this address ...but.....stop already when it dawns on ya your being a rude guest. Apologize and if that isn't in the cards then leave and stay gone. Don't force me to lock the door on you.  Ya know, the stuff mum taught you before you were five.

  

 

While I'm wound up.  Wife HATES sweet tea. Not fond of it myself. That said you do the drive through and ask for unsweet tea and when you get to the window they have the tea in one hand and reach for your credit card with the other like dope dealers not trusting you won't drive away if your handed the tea first and...... 30% of the time you been served.....????

Sweet Tea!

 

Couple of things here. We use to day Sweet Tea please when we wanted sugar and just Ice Tea when we did not. Everyone understood each other just fine. Now it's like  your at a George Carlin show. 

 

Flammable, Nonflammable, Inflammable and Noninflammable.

For crying out load

The thing burns or it doesn't. 

 

How about you hand it to me and I check it then pay for it or you fix it before I do. Don't make me drive around the building, get out, come in and fix what you messed up.   Defeats the purpose of a drive through.  

 

 

[BigBlueLB756]

One of my favorites is the philosophical discussion about whether the glass is half-full or half-empty.

 

The realist says it's just too damn big.

 

 

It's good to be old.  I'll play the age card in a heartbeat.

[Grumpy Bear]

Million Mile Oils

 

Almost everyone has a story of a motor that goes a million miles with brand 'whatever' oil.

Mobil did it on a rooftop dyno.

 

 http://www.mr2.com/ARTICLE/Mobil1.html

 

AMSOIL SS

 

https://millionmilechevy.com/my-million-mile-journey-with-amsoil-synthetic-oil/

 

Schaeffer's

 

https://www.schaefferoil.com/million.html

 

Volvo to 3.25 MILLION MILES?? Okay it's had two motor rebuilds but that's a million miles per build.

 

Guess what? It's a conventional oil ON??????????? A short OCI. 3,500 miles. 

 

Enjoy the video's and I'll post observations in a follow up. 

 

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q73MO1P_xrg

 

Last but not least: 

https://www.motorbiscuit.com/going-the-distance-7-cars-that-have-gone-1m-miles/

 

WHAT????

 

 

Edited October 27, 2021 by Grumpy Bear

[Grumpy Bear]

 

[Grumpy Bear]

Here's a thought!

 

It's not that it can't be done. Million mile vehicles. It's that people just don't want to. Not just the active nature of the experience but the draw of the next new 'bling thing'. People don't dump their I5 because if quit working. I might have the last working I5 on the planet. People are crows and frankly, lazy. 

 

Let me run this past ya. What do you think the carbon footprint is for the manufacture of one truck? Give it some REAL thought. Go ahead I'll give ya minute or two. 

 

*
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From harvesting the raw materials to the finished product that foot print is HUGE. IF an OEM were to make a car last twice as long, easy to do, instead of 5% cleaner over 10 years or whatever the targets are now the NET carbon foot print would be a fraction of what the current strategies are currently. Without putting pen to paper, a truck that last twice as long is a fraction of the carbon foot print of the next new generation of clean tech. That tech is here NOW. It would also double the life of earth oil reserves. Huge step in the environment. 

 

 

Yet the easy answer does not produce the greatest profit or promote a political agenda that someone can profit from nor a lobby that generates a profit OR a public that REALLY want's a solution if it interferes with keeping up with the Jones's. Don't give me that lost jobs crap. You know better than that. 

 

Fagetaboutit...

Keeping up? 

Bury the neighbors. 

 

If you can read and use your head for more than a place to sit you hat then realizing the indoctrination of greed starts in Pre-K these days...actually...always has. Pick up an advert and if you can keep from reacting like a dog to a squirrel then it will become obvious. It gets worse in the papers of 'ed-u-ma-kated' people. Someone has to teach greed! Right?

 

 

 

 

[BigBlueLB756]

I didn't lose my job.  It's still there.  There's just somebody else doing it.

 

 

[Grumpy Bear]

17 minutes ago, BigBlueLB756 said:

I didn't lose my job.  It's still there.  There's just somebody else doing it.

 

 

 

Mine too!  

 

My bosses bosses boss wants a project that physics says can't be done. I tell them that. Boss says, do it anyway. I try and fail then get fired for failing at something I told them could not be done. 

 

They move up a rung in the food chain and make the same demands. Again failure and fired. 

 

Move up another rung. Failed again. 

 

Bosses bosses boss gets fired by his boss for loosing three people and their entire teams for demanding what physics said could not be done and any fifth grader knows. About 30 people all told scrapped because someone with an education ignored his education and believed a competitors advert that was contrary to the truth. 

 

It's how R & D is done these days. By committees of focus groups and Facebook likes. 

 

[diyer2]

I have had a problem with authority from an early age. Hated being told what to do. Still do. Because of this I moved out of my parents house the summer after my sophomore year. I started working in the 8th grade so I got a place to rent, had a car and a job. 

I never had a problem doing the job you hired me to do. It was the B.S. from management or the guy with the degree who was smarter than me. I never kissed any a$$ or allowed someone to take advantage of me. I figure people are like kids, let them get away with something once and they will do it again if you let them. I never gave them the chance. 

People with authority have proven to me many times that most of them don't know how to use it properly. I'm sure we have all experienced this.

I worked construction and ran crews for some company's. My jobs were always under budget and on time. Wasn't hard, I just treated my crews like people. I did tell them what I expected from them. Simple, be on time and do your job. If Joe needed to leave a couple hours early one day I would pay him for the day if he deserved it. 

I was out of work once for quite a while when the economy was bad. Luckily the wife was working. Got a job and worked for 30 minutes before walking off the job. I knew me and this company's foreman weren't going to get along. He treated people like crap. He was younger than me with a big head. I told him I had forgotten more than he knew and left. Wife wasn't happy but she knew me. 

 

Sorry touched a nerve. I despise wrong doing in the work place by a person of authority that can ruin a working persons life.

Rant over. 

 

[KARNUT]

I only worked for a few people mostly self employed. The last company I worked for I was in my early 20s. Started as a relief driver for a refuse company. In 6months I became general manager. Showed the owner how to increase his profits resulting in my promotion. The owner after a couple years started taking advantage resulting in me starting a competing business. After taking much of their costumers they sold out. Two years later I sold investing in a family business retired at 58. Treat your people well, pay more than the competition. You’ll never be looking for help. 

[Grumpy Bear]

Well that went sideways quick!

 

 

The initial commentary was more about the lack of will and understanding and the reason.

 

Jerimiah 10:23 comes to mind: 

 

“It does not belong to man who is walking even to direct his step.” 

 

There are lots of things that divide people. Nationalism is certainly on that list. Cruelty is another. Greed, stupidity...we just are not very good at self management...are we?