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InitialDave posted:"You walk along the street at night, shouting It's Twelve O'clock and All's Well" I really miss the fact that we'll never have another Sam Vimes book.
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Oct 15, 2016 02:43
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| # ? Apr 26, 2024 01:42 |
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iwentdoodie posted:I really miss the fact that we'll never have another Sam Vimes book. ... dammit.
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Oct 15, 2016 03:09
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Great thread. Just quit my job...this concept intrigues me, could be a good way to pass the time. I also work in IT haha
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Oct 16, 2016 22:41
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Congrats on choosing pain and suffering as a means to make money. I hate to be that guy and poo poo on your Parade but your part time no tool having greenhorn status might turn this "fun job" into you moping floors and doing nothing but tires and oil. Aka shop bitch. At least that's how it would go in my shop. Better hope u don't gently caress anything up or that status will be cemented. Keep in mind techs get into this profession not because they like fixing cars its because its the only thing that pays decent (sometimes) with no college. Wrenching professionally is all about money. Fixing lovely rusty cars sucks. But you will see for yourself. Keep your head low ask educated questions keep a broom in your hand when there's no work and don't touch peoples poo poo without asking and you'll be alright. Good luck god speed.
Preoptopus fucked around with this message at 14:18 on Oct 18, 2016 |
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Oct 18, 2016 13:34
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Have you actually read any of this thread?
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Oct 18, 2016 16:41
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I was wondering similar.
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Oct 18, 2016 17:24
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Yeah the guy is having some fun at sounds like a pretty cool shop. He's not signing a lifetime contract with the place.
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Oct 18, 2016 17:40
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In sorry I didn't meen to be so cynical. Guess I don't know what a cool shop is. Always worked at shops run by assholes full of grumpy old alcoholics and busted my rear end in the pits just so son of them even remembered my name. But that sort of experience will make one cynical. Have fun op. Learn to do ball joints quick on trucks and you'll make bank.
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Oct 18, 2016 18:05
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As long as you get along with the guys you work with and they like having you around you'll be golden. I worked part time at a miata specific shop for about two years, doing mostly brakes/suspension and tires, not much under the hood until towards the end. Unfortunately the sole owner/operator had anger issues, way to many personal problems and problems paying me so I had to bail. Kinda sucks because if he was an even keeled guy and could afford to pay me I'd probably still be there in some capacity.
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Oct 19, 2016 06:45
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The Lost Days: Stuff Got Blurry Life can be busy, especially when you have no concept of free time and over schedule yourself without regard for your mental well being. Here's my schedule: Monday: 7a-8a gym, 9a-5p work, 6p-9p band practice. Tuesday: 9a-5p work, 6p-9p roller derby Wednesday: 6a-7a gym, 8a-4p work, 4p-8p work (garage) Thursday: 9a-5p work, 6p-9p roller derby Friday: 6a-7a gym, 8a-4p work, 4p-8p work (garage) Saturday: 8a-12p work (garage) Sunday: 6p-8p roller derby Not too shabby for a guy who used to have no responsibilities besides getting to the hardware store for his shift and where his next bag of weed was coming from. One day I'll get bored with the band or get tired of derby abusing my body and all I'll have to do is go to work and enjoy my more flexible hobbies. What all this whining means is that I've lost track of a lot of time because I don't have the energy to ever sit down and schedule stuff, like internet posts. A lot has happened in the last, holy poo poo, month or so since the last update. Furnace broke, my band got to play THE FEST in Gainesville, FL, fixed a few car things in a car shop, got elected to my derby league's board of directors (i.e. a full-time job for which I receive no pay), voted for the first woman in a presidential election, decided that my favorite Ramones album is End of a Century, all kinds of poo poo. Significant Car Problems On Which I Worked In The Order In Which I Remember Them A 2002 Ford Focus wagon wouldn't start! Oh no! Got out to the parking lot, wouldn't so much as click when the key was turned. Battery rated at 10v, tried jumping it, no go. Pushed the whale into the shop and got to learn ALL kinds of things about the starting system, how to read wiring diagrams, how to test relays, and the best part was learning how to use a power probe, which is the coolest. Oh well, 4 hours go by and we can't get the thing to start because everything tested okay and then we pop the superscanner on it to find out that the transponder in the key (whose battery I tested as good hours ago) is not being recognized by the car's anti-theft computer! Something that apparently Tim knew already from earlier in the day but he wanted to find out FOR SURE  Patched like 4 tires in one day  One of them didn't appear to leak from anywhere but when I took the tire off from the wheel, I saw the corrosion around the whole wheel, bead, edge, everywhere. Whizzy-wheeled 'er all clean and stuff, put some bead sealer on there and that person hasn't come back, so we're golden! I got to flex my super awesome wayta-go-champ diagnosis skills on a 1998 Toyota with a fuel gauge problem. Ticket says "c/s went over a bump and now his fuel gauge doesn't work." I pop out the fuel pump and test all the components and they're all fine. Went to put the fuel pump back in and took another look at it.  Hmm. That doesn't look right. It was at this point I said to Lars (who had popped by to help) "what if this bump punched the gas tank and bent the fuel pump bracket?" Lars thought that was genius so we took a look:  That's right under where the pump sits. Called the owner and told him he needs a new fuel pump and new gas tank and he says he can't afford it (new gas pump for this bitch is $800, which is crazy). Jam the old one back in and off she goes. "We have a t-rex!"   Also sighted: 
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Nov 8, 2016 20:38
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Update the Next: Remember that tire that I "fixed?" Song of the Post: "I'm Just Sayin'" by Dyke Drama. Got a text from Timbo on Friday: Forced-Induction Timothy posted:If you are coming in today you got to grab a tire off a customers car that you fixed a few days ago. She leakin. I just told her we would do her that favor. Had a bad feeling about that tire. I showed it to a few other dudes who'd been there for a while longer than me who were supposedly Better At This Sort Of Thing who told me to reseat it, use a ton of bead sealer, and replace the valve, so that's what I did. LO AND BEER HOLD the thing's leakin' again. Friday's weather: 25F with sleet/rain/snow all night. Leave the shop with a borrowed electric impact and socket set, Harbor Freight coupon (to buy a floor jack), and a jack stand. Jacked around at HF forever because I was sent with the wrong coupon for the wrong jack and had to buy a different, on-sale one that wasn't quite as fukken heavy as anything else in the shop but also cheaper. Puttered over to the lady's house, assembled a floor jack in the snow/sleet/wind, took the wheel back to the shop and left her car on a jack stand in her driveway. SEEMS NORMAL. Tire has no apparent damage whatsoever except for a crack in the sidewall that you can only see if you're looking at it from the inside (which I had shown to people on the previous Wednesday). Was told that tire is a "piece of junk/poo poo" by at least 3 other people and that I shouldn't have repaired it in the first place. Where these guys were on Wednesday is a mystery to modern science. Tim called the lady and told her about the lovely tire and she didn't care, just repair it again. I rolled that poo poo in bead sealer and popped the tire back on, still couldn't find a leak. Drove my Golf back to the lady's house (it's dark at this point), popped the tire back on and WOULDN'T YA KNOW IT, MY CAR DOESN'T START. Walk 6 blocks to the shop in sleet/rain/snow, grab a booster pack (which is just a car battery with welded-on cables) and a loaner and zip on back to my car and find out THAT THE BATTERY ISN'T THE PROBLEM. Cruise on back to the shop, Doyle laughs at me and says that he's on his way home and will bump-start the car for me, so we do that. Starts right up. Doyle, instead of going home, helps me troubleshoot what's wrong with my shitbox. "Ya need a new starter" he says. Looking at the old one, there are a bunch of divots and it looks like someone's beat the snot out of it in the past. Popped a new starter in it the next day and she fires right up. While I've got 'er on the hoist, I decide to lookit how come I haven't been able to use my wipers for 5 months. Turns out it's cuz one of the arms seized up real good and it's linked to the rest of the damned thing. Decided to order a new cabin filter since the old one is 14 years old and looks like black sandpaper that got dropped in the woods. Phone died again so y'all gotta wait until I can get more photos of Turbo Tim's twin-turbo Volvo with the engine in it and whatnot. It's a mean-sounding mother, for sure.
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Nov 21, 2016 22:47
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Thanks for the update, I love this thread. Congrats on playing FEST, that's awesome.
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Nov 22, 2016 03:42
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Guys I'm getting my phone back and I can take decent pictures. There's been a lot of things that have happened (including a snow emergency) and I have things to share, but they will be expressed best through pictures. I'll be snapping some this evening and updating the thread. Stay tooned!
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Dec 21, 2016 17:12
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The Final Update: I'm a loving Moron Tim just sent me a text to let me know I can't work there anymore. I plugged a tire last night and forgot to tighten all the lug nuts. Idiot, dangerous, stupid move that could've killed someone. I'm picking up my tools tonight in shame. I was getting so many things done last night, felt like I was really making progress, then this happens. My regular day job has the whole next week off and I was going to go in on a regular basis, like work a whole 40 hour week as a mechanic. I desperately need the money and it would have been a great experience. Instead I'll just be shut in my house feeling stupid/drunk. Big ol'  here today, folks. Thanks for reading along, anyway.
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Dec 22, 2016 19:17
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This is where you wheel your tools to a new shop.  Mechanics tool boxes have wheels for a reason...
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Dec 22, 2016 19:22
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Bummer, don't beat yourself up too bad. You certainly aren't the first and won't be the last to forget to tighten lug nuts.
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Dec 22, 2016 19:34
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poo poo, glad they found it. Move on as CSB says
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Dec 22, 2016 19:39
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Maksimus54 posted:Bummer, don't beat yourself up too bad. You certainly aren't the first and won't be the last to forget to tighten lug nuts. While I can't argue with a shop for firing a tech for doing that, I've done it to myself. Twice. Caught the first one before it could do damage, second one snapped the wheel studs while on a road trip and it was cheaper to pay the dealer to replace the whole axle shaft than it was to just replace the studs.
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Dec 22, 2016 19:39
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IOwnCalculus posted:While I can't argue with a shop for firing a tech for doing that, I've done it to myself. Twice. Caught the first one before it could do damage, second one snapped the wheel studs while on a road trip and it was cheaper to pay the dealer to replace the whole axle shaft than it was to just replace the studs. Yep, can't blame them but I too have made the same mistake. Sucks, dude.
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Dec 22, 2016 19:44
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I've had that happen from a normally really good, non-chain tire shop. poo poo happens, no one died. Find another shop to moonlight at once the hangover wears off.
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Dec 22, 2016 19:52
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It's typical for me to make mistakes, but it's very rare that I make the same mistake twice. I'm really happy that nobody got injured because of my wheel boner and hope that there isn't anyone in the shop when I pick up my tools. Ya know, cuz shame. Thanks for the encouraging words, dudes.
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Dec 22, 2016 19:53
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I've done that on my jeep, I realized pretty quick that something wasn't right and luckily was able to pull over and tighten them down. It's like the worst thing you can do in terms of basic maintenance short of forgetting to put oil in, but it looks like a lot of us have done it  Sorry you can't work there any more, but at least it's a legit reason! I'll bet you can go help out at another shop if you want to.
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Dec 22, 2016 19:54
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I can't say anything, I torqued a buddy's lugs down to 25 ft/lbs and he was about to back out before I realized that was really low and should be fixed. We've all made boneheaded moves like that at one point or another.
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Dec 23, 2016 00:44
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I've managed to do that on my own car too. I learned a few miles down the road when the car started shaking violently. 
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Dec 23, 2016 01:11
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Yu-Gi-Ho! posted:I've managed to do that on my own car too. I learned a few miles down the road when the car started shaking violently. I was doing brakes on my Miata, asked my buddy who was standing nearby if he would torque my caliper bolts for me while I finished up the other side. He said sure, or at least I thought he did. Couple commutes later the left front caliper decides it wants to try an alternative method of braking and wedges itself between the hub and the wheel.
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Dec 23, 2016 05:10
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He fired you with a text? Respect for Tim just fell through the floor.
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Dec 23, 2016 05:33
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drat like did you not have the lugs on there or just a few were loose? Sorry to hear
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Dec 23, 2016 06:07
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Seems okay to me given the circumstances. That would be just as weird of a conversation in person as in text.
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Dec 23, 2016 06:08
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Theme song for my life at the moment. Sometimes I just need a sad rock 'n' roll song and a buncha cheap beer.  The garage was one of those things that I wanted to do so well, thought that if I stuck it out long enough that I could make it work. Wednesdays and Fridays were good days for me because I got to go get my hands dirty. "Wrench therapy" would snap me back into being a real person after staring blankly at a computer screen for 8 hours. My girlfriend noticed it right away. Jeans stained with oil and grease, a permanent black color etched into my fingertips, the faint smell of gas and lubricants that would follow me into the next day, but it was ambrosia. It's something that I will keep doing, so it's time to get my home garage up to snuff. Ahem. Anyway. Stopped by to get my tools. Gave Lars a Pabst Blue Ribbon shirt that I used to wear to the garage that he loved. Don't get why he liked it so much, just a big ol' PBR logo on a bright red shirt, but it made his day. He was the saddest that I was getting sacked. Another guy asked me for my phone number immediately and told me to stay in touch. I mean, the shop is only 5 blocks away, so I'm for sure gonna be back cuz I can't work on our van in my garage. Lars helped me get my tool chest into my tiny car, and away I went. everdave posted:drat like did you not have the lugs on there or just a few were loose? Sorry to hear The lugs were finger-tight with the cap on. Bone-headed nonsense, totally deserve the firing. All I had to do was tighten 5 lug nuts... ugh. Hey, at least the fuckin huge hole stayed patched, so I got that going for me, which is nice. slidebite posted:He fired you with a text? Respect for Tim just fell through the floor. It's weird. The text came through this afternoon while I was reaching for my phone to order cheese steaks for lunch. Those cheese steaks tasted like heaven two hours later when they arrived.
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Dec 23, 2016 07:33
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A haulage operator and mechanic just got done on four accounts of manslaughter here in the uk when the brakes on their lorry failed and killed four people including a 4 year old girl. Boneheaded mistakes can be fatal in this business. Somebody should have been checking your work. Absolute irresponsibility on the part of the garage.
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Dec 23, 2016 09:48
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Yeah. Though there's an episode of CSI something or other with a bus crash plotline that's similar, and their conclusion in terms of blame is absolutely wrong in that. They blame a mechanic for using a crap bolt in a critical location, but the bolt is marked as being correct, it's just not actually complying with the spec it claims to be made to. The mechanic wouldn't know about that, it's a counterfeit part situation, the fault lay with the supplier or manufacturer who falsified the grading. If I did that, and the result was injury/death, the consequences for my company and me personally would be both expensive and unpleasant. But anyway, Scuz, yeah, you did it, and if it wasn't a first offence, I can understand you being let go. I agree that this being done by text is unprofessional, but from what I've learned from the various Americans on this forum, that's just how it seems to go over there. Now, as for the point made by Fridge Corn, yes. In aerospace, if we put in a root cause for failure as a person making a mistake or not doing their job, it'll be kicked back straight away. Systems fail, not people. If someone didn't tighten a bolt, yes, the problem is they didn't tighten the bolt, but the root cause is to be found in the control systems that didn't see them check off having done it, the lack of an overcheck from someone else, and so on.
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Dec 23, 2016 18:48
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If it makes you feel better I hosed up a steering rack (on the shop truck) by overheating it with a torch trying to break the jam nut loose. (Gmc envoy for those in the know) I was an idiot back then but worked for a poo poo head who didmt teach me anything and set me up to fail for his own amusement. Well he not only fired me but didnt pay me for my last week and sued me for the cost of the rack on top of that. Super illegal but I ended up winning the court case after months of bullshit.
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Dec 24, 2016 16:34
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Thinking about all the times i got hosed over by the first shop i worked at still gets me angry. But on the plus side working there and at some other places taught me a lot about what not to do. Those people have closed down and reopened under a new name about 4 times now...
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Dec 24, 2016 20:51
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My father has an adage that goes with this quite well: Some say yes, some say no. Who cares, who's next.
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Dec 24, 2016 21:01
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Adiabatic posted:My father has an adage that goes with this quite well: This the second time I've wanted to cross stitch a phrase you've posted on these forums.
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Dec 24, 2016 21:27
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cakesmith handyman posted:That's the great thing about standards, there's so many to choose from. I really laughed out loud at this. I swapped to aluminum wheels and didn't retorque after a few miles like you are supposed to. All my lug nuts started backing off at 70mph. I noticed on a curve that the wheels were wobbling. Pulled over and tightened the poo poo out of all the lug nuts. Most tire places specifically have another tech come over and recheck lug nuts with a torque wrench. When I worked at Western Auto I almost dropped a truck off the lift that had two separate hydraulic floor lifts, one for read axle and one for under the front frame. I didn't realize they were separate and there was a lever to control how much pressure goes into / out of which one when raising or lowering.
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Dec 26, 2016 00:52
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Damnit, well, if it'll make you feel better: Was changing my buddy's tires from winters to summers, or the other way around. We went around the car and loosened the lug nuts in preparation for getting each corner up on the jack. Once we had the first wheel changed it was clear that it was way down on pressure, so I changed it back and sent him a block down the road to the gas station to air up the four tires is his trunk. It was only when he rolled back in and I heard the clicking when he turned that the nickel jarred loose and I felt like the biggest dumbass. Nothing happened, thank God, but jeeez...
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Dec 27, 2016 21:04
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