Minor rant thread. Post your rants o' the day here!

Dealing with my ex. I know it's not healthy but the stress brought about by hating someone with such a pure white-hot rage and not being able to do anything about it literally makes me shake.

I can't cut all ties and never see her again, we have kids. She does what she wants and treats me like an inconvenient ATM.

Imagine if you will that a burglar came to your home one day and stole all your stuff, kicked you out of your house, and forced you to start over at 40. Then you are expected to be nice to that thief, speak well of them in front of your offspring, and just for good measure, buy them a brand new 60" TV every single month. A TV that you can only barely afford and causes many other areas of your life to get shortchanged but that the thief doesn't even need so she tosses it into a storage unit each month or gives it to her friends. Awesome feeling huh?

I ordered a full set of brake pads for the wife's car about an hour ago. I entered the single use discount code to get an additional 20% off, paid, and went about my day. Just realized while reading this thread that I originally meant to order a fuel filter for my other car, and probably should have ordered a heater core too. It totally slipped my mind at the time.

The brake pads are probably more than enough to keep me busy this week and I'll get another coupon eventually. It still caused that sinking feeling in a "slap the forehead" moment.

I almost bought a Juke NISMO RS. Every review I can find, along with Nissan's website, says the NISMO and NISMO RS have a lower, sport suspension. Lower. The overall height of every single Juke I can find specs on, whether old or new, AWD or FWD, NISMO or not, is 61.8".

I talked to a Nissan rep via website chat, and he put forth that the reduced ground clearance of 0.1" is the lowering, along with changes in approach and departure angles. Now, a bigger bumper cover is not lowering, right? Right?

In reply to WilD:

E36 M3! I just ordered like $50 worth of parts from Rock Auto last night and forgot I had a discount code to use.

Mike wrote: I talked to a Nissan rep via website chat, and he put forth that the reduced ground clearance of 0.1" is the lowering, along with changes in approach and departure angles. Now, a bigger bumper cover is not lowering, right? Right?

Before there was greenwashing and openwashing, now apparently there's lowwashing.

Wait. You wanted a Juke? With all of the other cars in a similar segment, new and slightly used, and you wanted one of those bugeyed trucklettes?

Wow. Okay then. There's a butt for every seat.

GameboyRMH wrote:

Mike wrote: I talked to a Nissan rep via website chat, and he put forth that the reduced ground clearance of 0.1" is the lowering, along with changes in approach and departure angles. Now, a bigger bumper cover is not lowering, right? Right?

Before there was greenwashing and openwashing, now apparently there's lowwashing.

I went to Twitter too. Just got an answer. A different answer. Trying to figure out how the answer makes sense.

Read bottom to top.

In reply to Mike:

Well that should be pretty easy to verify. What's the regular Juke tire size vs the NISMO?

EDIT: According to Tire Rack, the Juke SV (no idea if this is the base model or what) wears a 215 55 17 stock, while the NISMO RS wears a 225 45 18. So 26.311" height for the regular Juke, vs 25.970" for the NISMO RS, if my math is right. Half the difference in tire diameter should equal the change in ride height, which would be 0.170".

Unfortunately, that's 0.170" in the wrong direction . Looks like their logic doesn't hold water.

In reply to Mike:

So they lowered it and put taller tires on it?

Do they not understand how this is supposed to work?

In reply to Furious_E:

Using the same (Bridgestone Turanza) tires for both, tirerack says:
Juke S: P215/55R17 Overall Diam 26.6"
Juke Nismo RS: P225/45R18 Overall Diam 25.9"

E36 M3 JUST GOT REAL

Stefan (Not Bruce) wrote: Wait. You wanted a Juke? With all of the other cars in a similar segment, new and slightly used, and you wanted one of those bugeyed trucklettes? Wow. Okay then. There's a butt for every seat.

There is a cheap one nearby, so much so, that it's a lot for the money. Also, yeah, I do like them.

In reply to Mike:

They've probably never been called out on the lowering thing since the technically minded enthusiast market for Jukes consists of the guys who built the Juke GT-R and... you.

The new adjustable shocks for the duster finally got here!!!

No time to mess with it until next week....

A long time old friend of mine passed away last weekend at the far too young age of 38, the culmination of a 20 year long suicide. He never took care of himself or his diabetes. I loved him but damn he pissed me off sometimes. We hadn't spoken in the last few years. He fell into a cycle of strokes, comas, and heart attacks, all traced back to his original decision to not take his diabetes seriously. It's rough watching someone kill themselves slowly, and when they finally succeed it is even harder to not ask if you did enough to save them. Being sad and mad at the same time sucks.

Dear large automotive manufacturer,

Your stupid internal policies, purchase order system, and safety requirements, have made working for you almost impossible. Your safety and security personnel are arrogant, stupid, and unreasonable. They won't let me open a door control without disconnecting power and tagging it out, but I can't troubleshoot the system with no power. Get your stupid little German heads out of your collective ass and figure it out.

Effective immediately, your service labor rates have doubled and you will pay a 4 hour minimum for all future work. And, about that PM contract you wanted? You won't believe how expensive that is going to be.

If you want me to put up with your arrogant attitudes and idiotic policies it's going to cost you dearly.

There is nothing wrong with getting a dog from a breeder. There is nothing wrong with getting a rescue dog. They're all good dogs, and as long as people want dogs, both are going to exist.

to the lady who tried to stop me from making a legal right on red. Just because you saw me coming up behind you with my blinker on does not mean you are allowed to crowd the kerb and stop a car length and a half back from the light.

The fact that I drive a very capable off roader and am perfectly happy hopping two wheels up onto said kerb seemed to really upset you by the sound of your horn as I went by.

In reply to mad_machine:

I get the opposite. People who want to make a right on red but can't because I am in front of them and won't go through the red light.

I will not attempt to make a right on red if the vehicle in the lane to the left of me is something I can't see around either by design or because the idiot stopped halfway across the crosswalk (which is, technically, running a red light: entered the intersection on red, the intersection starts at the line BEFORE the crosswalk). I'm not going to stick my car's nose into traffic that I can't even see.

But the kicker is, every morning, there is an intersection where it is two lanes southbound, and the right lane ends almost immediately after the intersection. The right lane is generally only used by people who need to turn right. Except me, because I need to enter the driveway immediately before the road narrows to one lane. So I sit in the right lane, stopped at the red light, and invariably the whiner behind me starts honking because I'm not moving. Well, NO, I am not moving, the light is red. My turn signal is not on because I am not turning. It is not a legal or acceptable move to go straight through a red light. Deal with it.

Knurled said: I can't see around either by design or because the idiot stopped halfway across the crosswalk (which is, technically, running a red light: entered the intersection on red, the intersection starts at the line BEFORE the crosswalk). I'm not going to stick my car's nose into traffic that I can't even see.

Quoted for soooooo much emphasis. I hate that. The road my office is on ends in a T intersection with a very long red light. The left lane is left turn only, the right is right turn only. It is way too common for people who want to turn left to stop over the crosswalk. What is REALLY irritating is when the continue to creep forward. Seriously, what the berkeley are you trying to get farther out into the intersection for? You can't turn left until the light turns green! I've seen large SUVs get most of their length on the wrong side of the crosswalk...

That is an issue, and people not looking for foot traffic in or approaching the crosswalk before they enter it is high on my list too. Nobody is perfect, but people do this ALL THE TIME. That big blocky white line BEFORE the crosswalk is there for a reason. That is where you are supposed to stop and look for people before entering the intersection.

OMG!! Closed minded people at work are straining my ability to be civil. Just shouting stupidity doesn't make it right, it just makes it louder.

In reply to WilD:

In Germany, crosswalk encroachment is serious business (as it should be.)

In Berlin I saw a Golf creep half way into a crosswalk. A pedestrian gets close, clocks the driver with a dirty look, and proceeds to haul off and punt the front bumper as hard as he can.

Driver does nothing as a ticket is far more costly than a bumper scuff. It was awesome to witness.

Being away for two weeks has really given me time to realize how stressful and generally unpleasant dealing with my immediate family is. I'm going to hate going back.

About a month ago I purchased a 99 Porsche 911. I took it to a local shop to get the MD state safety inspection done. The only thing that failed was the reverse lights would not come on. A quick google search said it was most likely the backup light switch. A $20 part and 10 min to replace once the car is in the air. The shop that did the inspection didn't want to do the repair, neither did 2 other shops I talked to, only because it was a Porsche. Eventually I just did it myself.

I was then out of town for a week getting married. Once i got back I called the shop to have them check off the inspection so I could get my permanent plates. I was told their inspector was on vacation till this Tuesday. That is a problem because my registration ran out on 8/4. So I call back today, and get the real story that their license with the state of MD has run out and they haven't gotten their renewal yet.

So now I have to go back at lunch to get a refund. I will have to go back to the MVA to get another 30 day temporary registration. They I will have to find a new shop to redo the inspection, and then go back to the MVA yet again to finally get the permanent registration. I am annoyed...

Devilsolsi wrote: I will have to go back to the MVA to get another 30 day temporary registration.

Good Luck!

Last time I went rounds with the MVA they said that they will not give more than 30 days under any circumstances (after my mustang failed for stickers on the rear quarter windows). According to what they told me if you dont get it done in the 30 days, you either need to find a shop with a transit tag, OR have it towed in for inspection.

Be ready for more retardedness.

Dear Giant Automotive Parts Suppliers:

If you are going to sell component parts, it would be super helpful if you sold ALL the component parts needed to make something with those parts. Case in point: I can buy 7/16-20 thread RH and LH rod end bearings all day. But you have zero options for 7/16-20 threaded tube. So I can buy the weldable threaded ends in both RH and LH 7/16-20 threads that will fit in 3/4 tube with .058" walls. Except ALL your 3/4 tube has .065" walls. Is there just absolutely no way to get all the parts from one place so I can fabricate this stupid strut!?

And also, on the part of the page that gives me things that other people might have purchased or related items to the rod end bearing you just might consider having a link to the rod (or, since you don't carry that, maybe the weldable rod end) that the bearing would be the end to. That might be slightly more useful to me than "Grime Boss Hand Wipes".