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

New transmission was supposed to be delivered last Friday.  Inexplicably it spent 48 hours hanging out at a random FedEx depot along the way and was delayed until yesterday.  Yesterday at 6:30 pm I get an update that because of a local weather event they were unable to deliver it.

The FedEx ground distribution center is 1/2 mile from where I work,  and I made it to work and back with no drama. 

Ok, going to be delivered today.  Passed the FedEx ground delivery guy heading towards my house halfway to work this morning. 

Nope, local weather event, not going to be delivered today. 

What are the odds that it was packed poorly and somehow damaged at the in transit depot and they are just sitting on the crushed box now?

Edit: apparently pretty good:

stanger_missle said:

In reply to Antihero :

Yeah, I have been with this insurance company since 2003. They have always treated me right. Before I sold all of my vehicles, I had a policy that had 2 vehicles with full coverage (12 Jeep Wrangler and an 07 F250) and one with just liability (86 CRX Si). I paid $189 a month. That was in podunk Idaho though. I remember car insurance being expensive the last time I lived here in Tampa but $300 a month on a 9 year old Kia with just liability? Yeah, no. That's just berkeleying ridiculous. When I have some spare time, I'm going to hit up an independent agent here.

As for the job, I been networking like a mofo. I have found 5 people who I was stationed with here when I was on active duty who happen to work for the same company. One if them is a retired Army SGM who I worked for who is very high up in the company. One call and I'm certain he would help me find another position.

I can see why attrition is so high in my work center; shift work, long hours, piss poor management and zero job satisfaction. They require a clearance so most people who are qualified move on quickly.

In the short term, I'm in full on survival mode. I am eating as cheaply as I can and cutting my expenditures to the bare minimum. Just gas to get to work and internet.

I keep telling myself that things will get better but sometimes it's really hard to keep the faith.

The struggle is real 

State farm quoted the wife for full coverage....$225. Progressive charges $45 for slightly better coverage on a 13 vw golf

Arrived home to find that the downed tree/large limb that had caused me a 10 minute reroute on my drive home had also taken out the power line to my neighborhood and we had no power. After puttering about a bit on the (thankfully cellular connected) iPad I went out and succeeded in firing up the generator that was bought like a decade ago but has never been used for an actual outage. It’s currently powering the fridge & sump pump (pump has a battery backup, but I’d prefer saving that for overnight when we’d not be able to run the generator... and since there’s a statewide flood warning until like Saturday it’s running a lot...). 

Frankly though I’m shocked... I fully expected that the moment I got things plugged into the generator that the power would come back on...

The place that looked really awesome NOW responded to my e-mail.

The place looks like Makela Auto Tuning but for old British cars, and they needed a non-restoration mechanic.

Still going to have an interview, in case this first place doesn't pan out.

In another thread, I had to Google KOEO and KOER. Sounds like it's in fairly common usage, but I'm still going to register annoyance with an acronym that uses the same letter for opposite meanings within the same four-letter span. 

For anyone else who was wondering, it's Key On Engine Off (and Key On Engine Running for KOER, because as we go to acronym Key On Engine On we realize it's the same acronym as the first one, and try to cover our tracks with "running").

Day six of a head cold. berkeley it I'm gonna drink some beer. The airbag light came on the new car after a few weeks. Reset ok for a week. Now a day at most. Oh well. I could tell it had a love tap in the front before. Most couldn't. I doubt it's worth a trip to a Nissan dealership to reset/check the sensors. At least I hope not.  But I don't want them blowing off from hitting a pothole either.

Are all 9003/H4 bulbs this berkeleying retarded? A springy wire holds them in? Seriously? No twist lock of some kind? Hell my old 9C1 that was designed 10+ years prior had a locking ring the locked on with a quarter turn. I'll be goddam if I have to disassemble the front end of my Focus to change a dead bulb. Progress, my ass.

In reply to Appleseed :

I was assuming Hyundai until you said Focus. I think that might mean your answer could be yes.

Appleseed said:

Are all 9003/H4 bulbs this berkeleying retarded? A springy wire holds them in? Seriously? No twist lock of some kind? Hell my old 9C1 that was designed 10+ years prior had a locking ring the locked on with a quarter turn. I'll be goddam if I have to disassemble the front end of my Focus to change a dead bulb. Progress, my ass.

The wire clips in.  Don't bother to unplug the old bulb until you have it out or you will break the clip or wire.

Yes it is really goofy...

Appleseed said:

 I'll be goddam if I have to disassemble the front end of my Focus to change a dead bulb. Progress, my ass.

People on here seem to love the 1st-gen Ford Focus. The times I had to work on my sister's boyfriend/ex-boyfriend/guy she lives with/father of her kids' Focus made me wonder what drugs you people are on. What a wretched, horrible piece of E36 M3. My favorite was replacing the alternator, which involves a step where they tell you to carefully bend the ground stud on the shock tower to get enough clearance, and then you had to juggle and rotate the alternator into just the right position to slid it out between the firewall, shock tower and cylinder head/valve cover. When that car finally ripped the rear control arms out of the subframe was a happy day

In reply to KyAllroad (Jeremy) :

To your wifes defense: My 2year old son plays "driving" in my tow-Fård Expedition all the time. The knob for the diff/4x4 settings is apparently very satisfying to turn. Have pulled out with locked diffs in low range several times... :-)

Appleseed said:

Are all 9003/H4 bulbs this berkeleying retarded? A springy wire holds them in? Seriously? No twist lock of some kind? Hell my old 9C1 that was designed 10+ years prior had a locking ring the locked on with a quarter turn. I'll be goddam if I have to disassemble the front end of my Focus to change a dead bulb. Progress, my ass.

Design of H4 bulb clip dates to early 1970s, H4 was the first halogen dual filament bulb. Illegal in USA until around turn of century, but I have used them since they were introduced for "off road".

In reply to Torkel :

Sure.  But the youngest is a teenaged girl who hadn't been in the suburban is several days.  My only thought is that the 4lo button is the bottom one on the stack and therefore easiest to hit by mistake.  Maybe I should screw a plastic cover over it, when do we actually need 4lo anyway?

In reply to KyAllroad (Jeremy) :

We have a 150,000 ten year old Silverado at work - always a few quarts low on oil.  

Our star shop worker takes it home on snowy days since his Chrysler 300 is a bear to drive.  Another guy drives it and mentions to me the front axles seem to make a struggling noise when turning sharp corners.  

Apparently they left it in 4 high the past month.   Any day I’m waiting to hear about a transfer case issue. 

Its 14dgF here and the same guy said he bought water for the dry radiator- yes, I asked; water?

What year is your Burb? I had that garbage push button 4wd bullE36 M3 in my  98 Sonoma and threw hundreds of dollars in parts and shop labor at it with no positive result. But mine always thought it was in 4Hi, so you had to go to low, then to hi to engage it, then low to 2wd to sometimes disengage it. It would just change all by itself too, which I always thought was weird since the switch was nowhere near a place it could get water in it or anything. 

Until you mentioned the happy clunk, I was thinking just a bad switch. still could be.

KyAllroad (Jeremy) said:

In reply to Torkel :

Sure.  But the youngest is a teenaged girl who hadn't been in the suburban is several days.  My only thought is that the 4lo button is the bottom one on the stack and therefore easiest to hit by mistake.  Maybe I should screw a plastic cover over it, when do we actually need 4lo anyway?

Generally the only time you need 4Lo is when you really need 4Lo

Got a cold. I hate being sick. I hate sneezing all the time. At least it seems like I'll be over it tomorrow, as last night I apparently was feverish and sweated out the bed. 

Antihero said:

KyAllroad (Jeremy) said:

In reply to Torkel :

Sure.  But the youngest is a teenaged girl who hadn't been in the suburban is several days.  My only thought is that the 4lo button is the bottom one on the stack and therefore easiest to hit by mistake.  Maybe I should screw a plastic cover over it, when do we actually need 4lo anyway?

Generally the only time you need 4Lo is when you really need 4Lo

One of the joys of having a dual range Subaru was being able to just crawl in 1st gear and 4-Lo instead of wearing out my left leg shifting in and out of 1st gear when in a traffic jam.  Made the minimum speed a whole lot lower.

KyAllroad (Jeremy) said:

when do we actually need 4lo anyway?

On the street? Pretty much never. Offroad? You'd be better off losing 4Hi than 4Lo!

Ransom said:

In another thread, I had to Google KOEO and KOER. Sounds like it's in fairly common usage, but I'm still going to register annoyance with an acronym that uses the same letter for opposite meanings within the same four-letter span. 

For anyone else who was wondering, it's Key On Engine Off (and Key On Engine Running for KOER, because as we go to acronym Key On Engine On we realize it's the same acronym as the first one, and try to cover our tracks with "running").

That was me, and I really hate those acronyms myself.  Spread the pain, I say.

nutherjrfan said:

Day six of a head cold. berkeley it I'm gonna drink some beer. The airbag light came on the new car after a few weeks. Reset ok for a week. Now a day at most. Oh well. I could tell it had a love tap in the front before. Most couldn't. I doubt it's worth a trip to a Nissan dealership to reset/check the sensors. At least I hope not.  But I don't want them blowing off from hitting a pothole either.

If its intermittent and Japanese, it is likely the switch in the drivers seatbelt latch.

Intermittent Japanese head cold?

In reply to Streetwiseguy :

Yeah, I almost noted you and added a disclaimer that I wasn't blaming you, since they're clearly in broader use... 

I kept thinking about it, and the on/off thing is even dumber given that a more useful and meaningful set of letters are available for both key and engine: Key: Off, Start, Run, Accessory; Engine: Cranking, Running, Stopped

So KOEO and KOER become KRES and KRER

Update on previous rant:

I found the missing adapter yesterday.

I was in a random paper bag with some other items I was looking for, obviously tossed in there during the move of my office and electronics to another room/garage. 

Plugged the adapter in, rebooted and all three monitors are working again.  Plus the screen flicker hasn't come back.

The new one arrived today.

I did take the chance to remount one of the monitors so that it now is more lined up with the other two.

Ransom said:

In reply to Streetwiseguy :

Yeah, I almost noted you and added a disclaimer that I wasn't blaming you, since they're clearly in broader use... 

I kept thinking about it, and the on/off thing is even dumber given that a more useful and meaningful set of letters are available for both key and engine: Key: Off, Start, Run, Accessory; Engine: Cranking, Running, Stopped

So KOEO and KOER become KRES and KRER

KOEO makes more sense because the key doesn't "run", it's on or off.  The E is either Off or Running.

It's super easy to remember.  KOER means the engine is Running, and KOEO is the other one.