Rant 1: I checked the brakes on the car trailer and found (unsurprisingly) that it needed 4 new brake assemblies. But I layed (sp?) the 4 drums down & didn't check the armature surface. After mounting 4 new brakes, realized the surface was severely worn. Now I need to order 4 new drums & leave trailer on jackstands for a week. Doh!
Rant 2: Ordered 4 drums from eBay vendor. Received 3 drums. Vendor says "Sorry, inventory showed 4, but only had 3 on the shelf. You want a refund for the 1?" WTF? You knew I needed 4 , but chose to ship 3 and not tell me?
Rant 3: received drum 4 from another vendor finally today, managed to get the brakes together, tires mounted, but now it's dark and raining. Still need to manual adjust new brakes and it's supposed to rain/sleet/snow for 2 days. So it stays on stands in front of the shop for 3 more days. I just want this thing out back in the storage lot, but it's un-flushable.
I hate the current corporate car market. Let me explain. Not sure I used the right term.
Toyota used to be the absolute best manufacturer for the modest and practical auto enthusiast. Celica, MR2, AE86, (low trim) Supra,... Fun cars that were accessible to anyone, engaging to drive, and reliable as gravity.
Im convinced the last gasping breath happened on the design board when the scion tC was in development and they determined it would not be available with the awesome 2ZZ-GE. Instead, they saddled it with the vanilla 2AZ. It can be argued that the quirky xB might fit the mold, manual cars are surprisingly engaging, but it could never be called sporty. The tC can be argued for with a couple tweaks as well. But I digress.
Now, there is no such thing as an enthusiast Toyota. You all know this. I don't need to go in to detail. They've decided to phone it in, buying R&D and manufacturing from Mazda, Subaru, BMW.... This is tragic, but at least understandable. The markets dictate, and the bean-counters count, and this once great manufacturer is reduced to a pale shadow, watered down and bland. It is sad when good things must end.
But it gets worse. So much worse.
It gets pretentious.
Now, you can buy a hot Toyota, or at least you can buy what they market as a hot Toyota. TRD, we see you for what you've become. A pretender. We see you, Toyota, you corporate schill. "Oh bet we can sell you a TRD!" A Camry. I don't know what bothers me more, the audacity, or the fact that people buy the marketing.
And now, I've become aware of a new low. A new badge. "Apex". Does it get worse? Yes. They put the Apex badge on a wiener-tucking Corolla. There is nothing further from "apex" This is worse than the GR. You know, that other Corolla? The one that costs $50k+?
Anyway, excuse me while i throw up again.
I almost made it out of winter without getting a cold.
berkeley.

WTF UPS? I live between Albuquerque and Amarillo. It's just a computer desk but it would be nice to receive it so we can finish putting the living room together.
I am aware my password is expiring in a bit. I know this because you're using a pop up reminder that forces the focus off of whatever I'm doing at the time for work and forces me to X out of it in order to continue.
No, I will not change my password early. It's like this: If you want a password changed every 30 days, don't start reminding me 10 days ahead of time. Just make the change interval 20 days.
In reply to barefootcyborg5000 :
I was thinking recently, it looks like Toyota is getting out of the car business and becoming a marketing company.
In reply to Peabody :
And it isn't even like it can't be done. An affordable but fun car for enthusiasts. Ford did exactly that with the FiST and FoST. It can still be done.
Whoever thought a sliding barn door for a hotel bathroom was a good idea, is a moron.
No Time
UltraDork
2/28/24 9:56 p.m.
In reply to GPz11 (Forum Supporter) :
Sounds like the Moxy brand from Marriott.
stanger_mussle (Supported by GRM undergarments) said:
WTF UPS? I live between Albuquerque and Amarillo. It's just a computer desk but it would be nice to receive it so we can finish putting the living room together.
You'd think it'd be in Amarilllo by the morning.
No Time said:
In reply to GPz11 (Forum Supporter) :
Sounds like the Moxy brand from Marriott.
Hampton Inn and Double tree in Lafayette, In.
No Time
UltraDork
2/29/24 7:54 a.m.
I was expecting someplace trying to be trendy, not one of the more traditional chains.
Shadeux
SuperDork
2/29/24 8:10 a.m.
<deleted rant>
At least that was cathartic.
CAinCA
Dork
2/29/24 10:43 a.m.
In reply to Shadeux :
Glad to see that I'm not the only one who does this.
Toyman!
MegaDork
2/29/24 11:11 a.m.
Your offer of $50 to settle a $362.50 invoice is pretty insulting and refused. You are about 25 years too late for $50 service calls and you know it.
It costs me around $100 per hour for an employee, truck, insurance, and overhead. Add to that some dead time that I eat and a service tech costs more like $110-$120/hr. Add a little profit in so I can eat and live and make it worth my time to deal with shiny happy people like you, and our service rate is $145/hr. Including travel time, your service call took 2.5 hours. That gets you to $362.50. Here's a news flash. I'm not in business to lose money any more than you are.
Brett_Murphy (Agent of Chaos) said:
I am aware my password is expiring in a bit. I know this because you're using a pop up reminder that forces the focus off of whatever I'm doing at the time for work and forces me to X out of it in order to continue.
No, I will not change my password early. It's like this: If you want a password changed every 30 days, don't start reminding me 10 days ahead of time. Just make the change interval 20 days.
I don't know specifics, but barring a good reason, this is very much not the way. Strong passwords people have a chance to remember over long periods of time is better. Across a user population, password habits under frequent change requirements tend to be less secure... Password27 becomes Password28 then Password29.
I'm on my phone, which deletes my posts when I switch tabs, but I think it's NIST SP800-53 maybe?
In reply to stanger_mussle (Supported by GRM undergarments) :
UPS finally delivered my package. They took an awesome proof-of-delivery photo:

In reply to stanger_mussle (Supported by GRM undergarments) :
It's a decent shot considering it was taken by a UPS worker, meaning it was taken while running.
GPz11 (Forum Supporter) said:
Whoever thought a sliding barn door for a hotel bathroom was a good idea, is a moron.
Stayed at a weird boutique hotel in Bozeman with that too.
Stupid, stupid idea
wae
PowerDork
2/29/24 11:38 p.m.
Our corrected W2s are finally available and we got a PDF file to go along with it that purports to explain how to use the original plus the corrected to file our taxes. I'm reading through this and I swear that as I go from page to page I keep expecting the next page to start out with "Two trains leave Chicago at 4pm...." Doing taxes this year is going to be a real peach.
Datsun240ZGuy said:
stanger_mussle (Supported by GRM undergarments) said:
WTF UPS? I live between Albuquerque and Amarillo. It's just a computer desk but it would be nice to receive it so we can finish putting the living room together.
You'd think it'd be in Amarilllo by the morning.
It hasn't even gotten to San Antone...
New guys at work need to realize leaving the old guy at work to clean up by himself is not a good look.