Rant Thread

[durok]

OH, and one more rant for the day.

I live diagonal from a gas station/convenience store. Comes in handy, that's for sure. Anyway, I'm out mowing my grass and I notice a newer Nissan sitting right on the white line along the road in the middle of the gas station parking lot with it's doors open and the hood up. I didn't think much of it, but kept an eye on it. After a few passes with the tractor, I notice an older couple sitting in the car, and the hood is still up. In a really bad spot too, people are whipping around them doing 60 in a 35 as usual. Being neighborly and somewhat knowledgeable about cars I shut off the mower, played frogger with traffic and walked over to see if I could help..at least move the car so they wouldn't be right on the road and in the way of gas station traffic.

Turns out it was a senior couple and the throttle was stuck wide open. They shut the car down after a bit of a wild ride and coasted to a stop and were afraid to try and move it. They had called AAA, but who knows how long they'll be. Making a long story short, we didn't try to move the car - the transmission wouldn't go into N without the engine running, and he didn't want to chance it. I offered to get some tools and disconnect the battery hoping it would reset the car's computer and maybe help, but he didn't want to drive it at all - he was too worried about the throttle. So I offered for them to come over and sit in my living room....it was 100 or so out - not great weather for seniors. The AC was on at home, they could see their car from the living room, and watch for the AAA guy. They politely declined not wanted to impose, so I left the invitation open for them and decided to go back to mowing.

As I was leaving, the husband got out of the car and put out his hand. I asked was he sure he wanted to shake hands given the current state of affairs, and he said absolutely - it was earned and thank you. About 100 cars had whipped around them in the past 45 minutes, bypassed them or beeped and not one single person stopped and asked if they needed help.

Not one.

When did this happen? This is only the most recent event, but I have a few more similar stories since I'm that guy that always stops. I was raised to believe you help people if you can, and it seems that we've really lost that along the way somewhere. Right around the time cell phones came into popularity I reckon. Or maybe it's just life in the northeast, IDK.

/end rant/

Major props to your compassion for those in need - it's a real pet peeve of mine when people blithely go through their lives without a care in the world for anyone other than themselves. I've stopped more times than I could count for people in dangerous situations and done my best to help out.

One time there was one of those maid services cars (I think it was Merry Maid) stopped in the middle lane, rush hour traffic, downtown Austin on IH35 - car wouldn't start... I was heading home from work on my motorbike and pulled to the shoulder, jumped off my bike and weaved through the slow-moving traffic until I got to the car - tried to find out what was wrong, turns out neither of the 2 ladies inside spoke English.

I got them to put it in neutral and pushed the car (a small hatchback, thank goodness!) to the shoulder, doing my best to ignore all the honking and yelling from red-faced assholes pissed off about us being in their way. Made sure they had a cellphone and were reaching out for some sort of roadside assistance, went on my way.

Just on that particular stretch of IH35 that runs right through the center of Austin, I've stopped 3-4 times to render aid - once on Christmas Eve, just before midnight. Never understood people that just ignore it when it's obvious that someone needs help.

 

[TexasSP]

Major props to your compassion for those in need - it's a real pet peeve of mine when people blithely go through their lives without a care in the world for anyone other than themselves. I've stopped more times than I could count for people in dangerous situations and done my best to help out.

One time there was one of those maid services cars (I think it was Merry Maid) stopped in the middle lane, rush hour traffic, downtown Austin on IH35 - car wouldn't start... I was heading home from work on my motorbike and pulled to the shoulder, jumped off my bike and weaved through the slow-moving traffic until I got to the car - tried to find out what was wrong, turns out neither of the 2 ladies inside spoke English.

I got them to put it in neutral and pushed the car (a small hatchback, thank goodness!) to the shoulder, doing my best to ignore all the honking and yelling from red-faced assholes pissed off about us being in their way. Made sure they had a cellphone and were reaching out for some sort of roadside assistance, went on my way.

Just on that particular stretch of IH35 that runs right through the center of Austin, I've stopped 3-4 times to render aid - once on Christmas Eve, just before midnight. Never understood people that just ignore it when it's obvious that someone needs help.

That section of 35 is horrible, especially the double decker part. I know at one point in was determined one of the worst designed intercity freeway stretches on the US.

Austin traffic since then has gone from horrible to something I can't even describe. Houston traffic sucks for sure, but Austin takes the cake in Texas followed immediately by Dallas.

 

[durok]

^^^ Agreed! ^^^

I have lived here since the early '80s, minus a stint in the USMC.

It's truly gotten outrageously bad.

The Merry Maid scenario happened northbound just before the split between upper and lower decks, and the Christmas situation was on the upper deck.

Crazy... :evil:

 

[skinnyj]

When did this happen? This is only the most recent event, but I have a few more similar stories since I'm that guy that always stops. I was raised to believe you help people if you can, and it seems that we've really lost that along the way somewhere. Right around the time cell phones came into popularity I reckon. Or maybe it's just life in the northeast, IDK.

/end rant/

Unfortunately, it happened when people either 1) became sue happy or 2) became complete psycho-nuts that will suddenly call the cops on you for some imagined infraction.

When I was in my teens, I worked at a full-serve gas station. We just sold gas and did no automotive work. The owner forbade us from doing any samaritan work. Not because he was a bad person, but because he was liable. For every ten decent people, there is that one a-hole that will try to sue the last person that put their hands on the vehicle.

Aside from the gas stations he owned, he also owned a fuel oil company. He had trucks routinely picking up gas out of East Boston. About once a month, we would get a call from our insurance company or the State Police saying someone got hit by one of our trucks and the driver left the scene. They were always bogus claims and easily disproved (the owner kept his trucks in immaculate condition).

It is things like this that prevent people from sticking their necks out.

 

[nightcrawler48]

My "sue any and everybody who might have touched it" story goes back to the 1980s. The company I worked for built log processing equipment for sawmills. We were a Canadian company and got included as a defendant in a negligent death suit filed in the USA against I don't know how many companies. It seems a worker had died as result of an industrial accident while operating a machine built in 1906. Our company had changed owners, names, and products manufactured, at least 3 times since 1906. We started manufacturing sawmill equipment in the early 1960s. Somehow, one of the previous company owner's name/company name was linked to the 1906 machine. So, we were included in the suit. No one in our company knew anything about the machine or the company who owned it. Our insurance company decided it wasn't worth the time and money to defend it, other than a signed affidavit to be submitted to the court, and take our chances from there. I believe the whole thing was settled out of court and I have no idea what the dollar amount was that we were accessed.

For me, it takes a lot to get involved in something when I can see the threat of some action by someone I can help. Some things I just pass by and others I take a chance. It's sad but that 1980s incident is always at the back of my mind.

 

[Greatscott]

1906... I am guess the warrantee had expired?
This is one of those WTF lawsuits, how can someone seriously expect today's safety standards to apply to a machine built 80 years prior? Back in the era when that machine was built you were expected to pay attention to what the hell you were doing, there were no guards, safety rails, chains, or shut-downs to prevent an accident. Seems like the company that was still using that equipment should have taken the full load of responsibility for the accident. :???:JMHO...

Todays rant...

I am out of oatmeal... Dammit!

 

[TexasSP]

I believe the 1906 thing for sure. I worked for a company who's previous owners has processed asbestos. First this companies original process did not create particles which were ever inhale-able. But that's another story. My company shared part of the name from the original company, but was a separate division which had since sold to completely different ownership. When I was over Facilities and Safety I would get calls from the adult grandchildren and children of people tied to the other companies past asbestos claims. These people were seeking settlement money, threatening to sue us, etc. We tracked all of this through our corporate offices. They would always follow up and get legal involved. In most of these instances these people's dead relatives weren't even tied to the other companies asbestos products. It was beyond ridiculous.

 

[nightcrawler48]

I believe the 1906 thing for sure. I worked for a company who's previous owners has processed asbestos. First this companies original process did not create particles which were ever inhale-able. But that's another story. My company shared part of the name from the original company, but was a separate division which had since sold to completely different ownership. When I was over Facilities and Safety I would get calls from the adult grandchildren and children of people tied to the other companies past asbestos claims. These people were seeking settlement money, threatening to sue us, etc. We tracked all of this through our corporate offices. They would always follow up and get legal involved. In most of these instances these people's dead relatives weren't even tied to the other companies asbestos products. It was beyond ridiculous.

It's interesting the materials/chemicals used years ago that are now banned due to health risks. Many people suffered and some passed way earlier than they should have. In the 1960's I was a shop helper in the welding and machine shops. Processes and chemicals we used were later banned and I can't even remember some of the names any more. And, if anyone was aware we should be wearing protective equipment, we weren't told about it or supplied safety equipment. I guess I'm one of the lucky ones, after 50 years I don't have any health issues linked to exposure to those chemicals.

Today, most industries have safety procedures in place to protect the worker as much as possible, and that's a good thing. But it still means the worker needs to be focused and accept responsibility of their actions. We're much better informed today and can make the best choices to protect ourselves.

I know I won't be here but I'm sure 40-50 years down the road people will look back at some of the things we do today and shake their heads. Hopefully we won't have regulated them into worker zombies by then.

 

[Fricker08]

I’m getting annoyed at all the duplicate posts in multiple sections or even the same section by the same user asking the same question or a version of the same question over and over and over and over again. I was new once, and I spent a lot of time reading in here before posting stupid questions.
We have been answering these questions for some of these guys and they must not like the response because they post it in a different section. Just clogging up my feed and makes me want to pull my non-existent hair out. Rant over


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[HumboldtEF]

You could report the posts to a mod.

 

[Topher Builds]

^ please

We remove the duplicates that we find but some definitely get missed.

 

[Peaker]

On another forum i want to link to a older post where i have answered the same question, but i keep finding myself not doing that and so make the same RPLY 2-3 times a month.
It is frustrating as hell but you just got to be the better man, or try and be the less helpful guy and just ignore the post or as i tell myself give others the chance to be helpful too.

I dont report those posts as often they are from first time posters.

PS: If it was easy being the nice guy, everyone would do it.

 

[Greatscott]

I’m getting annoyed at all the duplicate posts in multiple sections or even the same section by the same user asking the same question or a version of the same question over and over and over and over again. I was new once, and I spent a lot of time reading in here before posting stupid questions.
We have been answering these questions for some of these guys and they must not like the response because they post it in a different section. Just clogging up my feed and makes me want to pull my non-existent hair out. Rant over


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You laugh, you cry, you say "WTF?"...

On another forum I have seen three posts with the exact same header on the first page of a sub-forum. If you are not going to do a search, at least look at what is on the first page of the sub forum...

Today's rant...
IT Guy...
The junior IT guy was bitching this morning about his boss getting on him about jobs he was supposed to do and not getting them done in a timely manner, or not getting them done at all. The end of the conversation went line this...

Me- Wow, Tom, that really sucks. By the way, when can I expect the IP addresses and the asset tags for my new equipment?

Tom- Oh, did you request that this morning?

Me- Nope, I sent you an email Monday morning, and I thing you responded to it (I know he did...)(this conversion took place on Wednesday)

Tom- What equipment?

Me, pointing to the boxes I was resting my arm on- This equipment.

Tom- OH, yeah... I completely forgot about that!!!

Tom is a nice enough guy, but attention to detail isn't really his forte. Whenever I get an IP address from him I ping it, there is normally a 50/50 chance another device on the network is already using that IP.

 

[Fricker08]

Yea I should report some of them, unfortunately I am the nice guy and I try to help. But man some of these guys just go 180 from where you point them.

The other one that gets me is “what crawler is best for me?” Idk how many times I’ve seen that. There’s so much info on all of these trucks and peoples stories about what they do and YouTube videos testing them.. if you can’t answer that question for yourself.. idk.


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[Greatscott]

/Rant

F*&%ING ENGINEERS!!!!

In particular, those who designed my Cub Cadet. I can see a dozen different ways they could have designed the friggin' thing to make changing a belt a lot easier, and a lot faster.

/end_rant

 

[Greatscott]

You know, i support our postal service, I think it provides a vital function and should be funded so that it can properly do its job.
However...
THIS is my new iPad I bought for college... It looks like someone used it as a seat cushion. USPS... You’re not making a good case for yourselves.

Untitled by Scott O, on Flickr

Untitled by Scott O, on Flickr

Untitled by Scott O, on Flickr

 

[Peaker]

There is many things i really want to support, but due to actions of their own i cant do that.
And it annoy the hell out of me, i really want to have more faith and trust in things / persons, but i just can not do that ( anymore )


And its not like i ask for more than i am willing to put up myself, i am not that kind of a Dane.

 

[c0bra]

$&@? you geek squad!

I took my maybe 6 month old laptop to geek squad because I screwed and broke the screen, like to the point were the computer is basically an expensive paper weight.

Anyways they asked if it’s touch screen (it’s not) and never asked if I custom ordered it. So I assumed everything was fine and they could fix it. They told me 2 weeks to ship then a few days to look at it. So great and I paid there ridiculous shipping fee.

Well it takes a few days to get to the place they fix laptops. Then proceeds to sit there in their receiving area for 2 weeks before they actually receive it. (UPS said it was delivered but there system didn’t show anything. Once it finally showed in the geek squad system that they received it, I figured great I will know how much to fix it soon. Yet again it sat there for 2 weeks with no updates. When I was about to call geek squad because I was getting tired of waiting, I decided to look again. I saw a beacon of hope as my laptop was magically fixed, unfortunately it was a false sense of hope! The next day I received the email above!

Now I have to wait until Monday (if tracking is right so I can schedule a day and time to go pick up my computer. When I dropped it off they told me that if I refused the repair they would refund part of the shipping fee. Now I didn’t refuse anything, that was them that refused it because of my laptop.

Now once I pick it up from Best Buy, I am taking it down the street to a ubreakfix to see what they say.

Now my laptop is an hp 15t. I did custom order to get everything I wanted. It is basically a gaming computer without the upgraded graphics. If I remember right it’s got a 1TB hard drive, solid state drive, intel i7, upgraded ram but has a regular screen. I set it up this way from hp so I wouldn’t have to even think about needing a new laptop for years to come, I wanted it to be able to handle plc programs if I need to for work, be more than capable of I go back to school for a bachelors, and to easily handle fusion 360.


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[Greatscott]

$&@? you geek squad!

Yup...

Monday I went in to get the pen for my iPad, I was a little confused as to which one I needed, or what was compatible. Of course, they don't have it in stock, but of course, they could order it for me. This is normally the point where I walk out, but they did have it on sale, with no shipping, AND... guaranteed to be in my PO box on Thursday…

So, I asked the guy, "what if its not in my PO box by Thursday?"

Geek Squid Guy, "It will be there, guaranteed!"

Me... "Cool, but what if it is not... What does your 'guaranty' cover?"

Squid, "What do you mean?"

Me, "A guaranty normally implies that if something does not happen as promised, I will get reimbursement of some kind."

Squid, starting to sweat a little, "Well, its not 'that' kind of guaranty"

Yup, it was not in my PO box yesterday...

Another Geek-Squid story...
A few years back I bought an 8mm camera, and wanted to transfer the video to my computer, and required a fire-wire cable. I went in, couldn't find one, so I asked a Squid where they were. The Squid shows me the cable, and asks if I want them to 'install' it for me. I asked how much, the Squid tells me all of the benefits of having them "do the job right"... I ask how much, and the Squid continues to chatter on about making sure all of my settings are right so "nothing is broke". Finally I chisel the price out of the Squid, for $160 they'd install this cable for me. I declined the service, took the cable home, plugged everything in, the computer told me a camera was now connected, and asked if I wanted the video downloaded... :roll:

 

[c0bra]

Well the Best Buy rant isn’t over!

I got a call from them earlier saying they couldn’t fix my computer because they couldn’t get the parts and that they were going to give me a full refund!

So when I picked up my computer they claimed I refused the repair and told them no and they realized that I was right. Anyways I did get my full refund.

After leaving with my laptop that they “couldn’t get parts for” I went down the street to a ubreakifix. All I have to say is WOW. I talked to the employee there and they found the screen in stock within 5 minutes, then they spent 20 minutes trying to make sure that it was correct.

When they told me the price I was shocked! Best Buy was $85 for shipping and labor, then an additional $250-$500 for the screen. The estimate at ubreakifix was just over $300!


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