What Irked You Today?

[johnyrotten]

19 minutes ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

When the neutral cable between the transformer on the power pole and the meter finally parted completely earlier today, it blew my Dremel, my stereo amp, one power strip, several lighting timers, and almost started a fire.

I won't know if my desktop computer, big monitor, and landline base-unit survived until I get a new power strip.

Guess I ought to be happy, because if I hadn't been here waiting for the ISP tech (a whole "nother" story), I might very well have come home to a smoking ruin.

Yes, I'm very thankful, but so far I'm out hundreds of bucks, and we're not done yet...and the house still stinks of burned electrics.

EDIT: Once again, I have to praise the professionalism of my electricity provider. They were here within 1/2 hour of my call, and had me back up in another 1/2 hour.

 

At least they got you up and running quickly. 

[porschercr]

24 minutes ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

When the neutral cable between the transformer on the power pole and the meter finally parted completely earlier today, it blew my Dremel, my stereo amp, one power strip, several lighting timers, and almost started a fire.

I won't know if my desktop computer, big monitor, and landline base-unit survived until I get a new power strip.

Guess I ought to be happy, because if I hadn't been here waiting for the ISP tech (a whole "nother" story), I might very well have come home to a smoking ruin.

Yes, I'm very thankful, but so far I'm out hundreds of bucks, and we're not done yet...and the house still stinks of burned electrics.

EDIT: Once again, I have to praise the professionalism of my electricity provider. They were here within 1/2 hour of my call, and had me back up in another 1/2 hour.

 

Sounds like a bit of a rough day. Glad the electricity provider got you back up in a timely manner.

 

[NOBLNG]

20 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

When the neutral cable between the transformer on the power pole and the meter finally parted completely earlier today, it blew my Dremel, my stereo amp, one power strip, several lighting timers, and almost started a fire.

I won't know if my desktop computer, big monitor, and landline base-unit survived until I get a new power strip.

Guess I ought to be happy, because if I hadn't been here waiting for the ISP tech (a whole "nother" story), I might very well have come home to a smoking ruin.

Yes, I'm very thankful, but so far I'm out hundreds of bucks, and we're not done yet...and the house still stinks of burned electrics.

EDIT: Once again, I have to praise the professionalism of my electricity provider. They were here within 1/2 hour of my call, and had me back up in another 1/2 hour.

 

Those “power strips” are not surge protectors apparently. Most folks likely see the on/off button and assume (as I did) that they provide protection, but they are just basically outlet expanders. You can buy ones that do have surge protection but of course they cost a lot more too.

[meechum68]

It's a minor Irk... but in the end if things pan the way I want, my work life will change from physical to mental. I am waiting on the results of a job I had applied and interviewed for, been 10 work days since, and he wrapped up interviews this last Mon/Tue.

 

So just going buggy on the status. I felt I put a good foot forward, and have started taking the courses that relate to the role as well, so if my efforts during the interview were solid, the work I am doing will help me get ahead on the training to reduce the amount of time from newbie newbie to new guy.  

And I know there is a bit of time yet before the window I was given as to when to expect to hear something one way or another.  

And on the flip side, a few extra bucks for Models and supplies! 

[johnyrotten]

32 minutes ago, meechum68 said:

It's a minor Irk... but in the end if things pan the way I want, my work life will change from physical to mental. I am waiting on the results of a job I had applied and interviewed for, been 10 work days since, and he wrapped up interviews this last Mon/Tue.

 

So just going buggy on the status. I felt I put a good foot forward, and have started taking the courses that relate to the role as well, so if my efforts during the interview were solid, the work I am doing will help me get ahead on the training to reduce the amount of time from newbie newbie to new guy.  

And I know there is a bit of time yet before the window I was given as to when to expect to hear something one way or another.  

And on the flip side, a few extra bucks for Models and supplies! 

Best of luck getting the new position. 👍 👍

[Ace-Garageguy]

2 hours ago, NOBLNG said:

Those “power strips” are not surge protectors apparently. Most folks likely see the on/off button and assume (as I did) that they provide protection, but they are just basically outlet expanders. You can buy ones that do have surge protection but of course they cost a lot more too.

Yup, and I should have known better, but the odds against a damaging surge coming in are pretty slim, and the odds against the neutral cable breaking at the transformer connection are astronomical.

Needless to say, I've just today replaced everything with surge-protected strips, and found some at Best Buy that address the neutral wire specifically.

[meechum68]

46 minutes ago, johnyrotten said:

Best of luck getting the new position. 👍 👍

Thanks John!  Just gonna do the work, and keep showing why I am the best candidate.

 

[Ace-Garageguy]

So far no particular irks yet today, but I'm just about to change the fried power strip for a new one with surge-protection and try to fire up the desktop and its big monitor and the landline base-unit, so all that may change momentarily...

Fried tofu strips won't work either:    

Edited Friday at 11:12 PM by Ace-Garageguy

[HomerS]

So since our Dr left the office we saw a new Dr at another office within the same organization.  My wife is a nurse and my interpreter on medical terms or to what level I' screwed.  I swear it was like watching a tennis match them two going back and forth like I'm not in the room.  While I got the A1C down from down from 9.9 to 7.7, it's crept up to 8.3.  WTH....No Doritos...no peanut butter cookies.....no pop.  She's keeping me on the Metformin, but switching to extended release which more people seem to tolerate {read as less explosive diarrhea}.  I also get one of the injectable meds too.  Thankfully I married into the medical field as I had so many allergy shots as a kid I don't do needles!  On the plus side, my BP actually read low for one in....ever. So we know those meds are working well.

My mom died of a massive stroke in 2007 as she had high BP but never took the meds and tossed them I her dresser.  I have a lesson close to my heart to do what the Dr says.  Showing my age here but growing up one of my favorite bands was Molly Hatchet.  Lead singer Danny Joe Brown left the band and came back a few years later but he passed of complications of diabetes.  Just wasn't the same with the new lead and can remember how it impacted my music choice at that time.  It really stuck with me....

[stitchdup]

my sister is visiting my mum with my nieces this week. shes taken a family she's friends with up with her and they have to be the laziest parents i've met. their kids have been on screens since they arrived and the parents are the same. I gave the little boy a revell tractor kit to get him away from the screen but dad (who is an engineer) gave up after he broke one part (a light, and if he read the instructions he would find a spare as it has options) so the kit got dumped. i've rescued it and my snips as he dumped my tools too. them being up with their unhouse trained kids has meant the rest of us have had little time to hang out. even my nieces are embarassed by them. when we have managed to get the kids away from screens they have been enjoying themselves, i took them to hunt for crabs and eels and my other sister has found other activities. honestly its not kids on screens thats the problem, kids love to be outside, its parents on screens thats the real problem. 

[peteski]

On 8/8/2025 at 3:37 PM, NOBLNG said:

Those “power strips” are not surge protectors apparently. Most folks likely see the on/off button and assume (as I did) that they provide protection, but they are just basically outlet expanders. You can buy ones that do have surge protection but of course they cost a lot more too.

That's correct. Unless it is clearly specified, power strips do not contain any surge protectors. They just have circuit breakers to protect from over-current.  Even the popular power strips with built-in surge protectors are of questionable usefulness.

I believe in Ace's case (lost common neutral), certain circuits in is house ended up with 240V instead of 120V. Many foreign-made modern appliances are  design for worldwide operation and can work on 100-240V, some aren't.

[meechum68]

Today .. Subaru... Subaru... Subaru not doing their jobs during warranty windows: I have a 2016 Forester and during the warranty period, when I took it in for service, I asked them... Is there any preventive maintenance that I need to address at this oil change interval... Nope, nothing .. not a thing, did this for 93K miles,.. so today here I am .. Irked.. nope pissed off... I had a code that showed up this weekend in the form of Transmission sensor fault, and of course this is in the valve body and not as a replaceable part, no... I have to replace the whole bloody valve body now.    So ... New car payment 600-700 month for 72 or... 4500 in repairs for another 120k miles .. so yeah my CC is getting slapped but no car payment. 

I really wish that the dealers would train the service department to be better at helping their customers avoid big expenses later on, and making sure "we the customer" are aware of recommended preventions before they become a 4500 mess later on.  (The transmission thing is 3200 of this... the 1300 is other small things that may become major things if they aren't taken care of now). 

I love Subaru's and will continue being a fan of them, as still one of the better reliable vehicles I have owned and currently own.  

 

[johnyrotten]

25 minutes ago, meechum68 said:

really wish that the dealers would train the service department to be better at helping their customers avoid big expenses later on, and making sure "we the customer" are aware of recommended preventions before they become a 4500 mess later on.

Unfortunately for us consumer's, that would eat into their profits on the back end, never gonna happen. It would be outstanding customer service if they did what you're saying. That's a nasty financial hit,for sure. Best of luck with everything 

[meechum68]

18 minutes ago, johnyrotten said:

Unfortunately for us consumer's, that would eat into their profits on the back end, never gonna happen. It would be outstanding customer service if they did what you're saying. That's a nasty financial hit,for sure. Best of luck with everything 

Oh I agree it's a nasty practice. But in the end, it's still better than a car payment, and I will be a ton less trusting with the service department than I had been in the past. 

Funny, my job relies on customer service, and if I did what they did, I would be terminated on the spot. I suppose it's time to make folks aware of the junk via online reviews.  Good cars... bad dealer service folks.  

Edited 3 hours ago by meechum68

[NOBLNG]

58 minutes ago, meechum68 said:

I really wish that the dealers would train the service department to be better at helping their customers avoid big expenses later on,…

Like John said…that will eat into their profits. Best thing I have found is to join a forum for owners of your particular car and ask for advice or info there. They are likely a helpful bunch just like the folks on this forum.

Edited 3 hours ago by NOBLNG

[meechum68]

7 minutes ago, NOBLNG said:

Like John said…that will eat into their profits. Best thing I have found is to join a forum for owners of your particular car and ask for advice or info there. They are likely a helpful bunch just like the folks on this forum.

I will definitely be hunting down a good forum for my car! I have noticed that Subaru owners as a run stick together like glue. Through good or bad.

 

[NOBLNG]

The wife and I have been “camping” in our 5th wheel at the park in my hometown for the last 12 days. The first two days were nice, although a bit smokey.😬 It has rained every day since.🤬 To make matters worse, the wi-fi has been down for most of the time too. We have the site booked for three more nights, but I think we will head home tomorrow.😕 I hope they are at least getting some of this rain where the fires are.

[meechum68]

13 minutes ago, NOBLNG said:

The wife and I have been “camping” in our 5th wheel at the park in my hometown for the last 12 days. The first two days were nice, although a bit smokey.😬 It has rained every day since.🤬 To make matters worse, the wi-fi has been down for most of the time too. We have the site booked for three more nights, but I think we will head home tomorrow.😕 I hope they are at least getting some of this rain where the fires are.

Dang bud!! That really sucks! But hey, on the flip side, it's not a scorcher atm. 

[FoMoCo66]

35 minutes ago, NOBLNG said:

The wife and I have been “camping” in our 5th wheel at the park in my hometown for the last 12 days. The first two days were nice, although a bit smokey.😬 It has rained every day since.🤬 To make matters worse, the wi-fi has been down for most of the time too. We have the site booked for three more nights, but I think we will head home tomorrow.😕 I hope they are at least getting some of this rain where the fires are.

At least your not in a tent like I would be.

[meechum68]

1 minute ago, FoMoCo66 said:

At least your not in a tent like I would be.

Dude... I know what you mean!   One day I will get a camper but until then, tent camping it is.

[Rodent]

1 hour ago, meechum68 said:

Today .. Subaru... Subaru... Subaru not doing their jobs during warranty windows: I have a 2016 Forester and during the warranty period, when I took it in for service, I asked them... Is there any preventive maintenance that I need to address at this oil change interval... Nope, nothing .. not a thing, did this for 93K miles,.. so today here I am .. Irked.. nope pissed off... I had a code that showed up this weekend in the form of Transmission sensor fault, and of course this is in the valve body and not as a replaceable part, no... I have to replace the whole bloody valve body now.    So ... New car payment 600-700 month for 72 or... 4500 in repairs for another 120k miles .. so yeah my CC is getting slapped but no car payment. 

I really wish that the dealers would train the service department to be better at helping their customers avoid big expenses later on, and making sure "we the customer" are aware of recommended preventions before they become a 4500 mess later on.  (The transmission thing is 3200 of this... the 1300 is other small things that may become major things if they aren't taken care of now). 

I love Subaru's and will continue being a fan of them, as still one of the better reliable vehicles I have owned and currently own.  

 

Just to play Devil's Advocate, what preventative maintenance would have kept the valve body from having to be replaced now?

I don't know where you live, but you are overdue for finding a good, trustworthy independent shop that knows Subarus.

[meechum68]

4 minutes ago, Rodent said:

Just to play Devil's Advocate, what preventative maintenance would have kept the valve body from having to be replaced now?

I don't know where you live, but you are overdue for finding a good, trustworthy independent shop that knows Subarus.

Oh .. I don't mind at all, It was the transmission service that after 75k which I didn't know about, being done. Which is fluid/filter change.  Had I been told at the time I did my LOF service, I would of done it then.   

But yes, I will be looking for a new place that is good, trustworthy, and not overpriced that knows Subaru's.  

I appreciate you asking @Rodent

[johnyrotten]

https://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/

https://www.subaruforester.org/

[rattle can man]

My partner had the same thing happen to her Scooby At around 124K, and she had the maintenance done. Our big issue with them was the oil consumption. But the customer service was awful at the dealer.  And there was the horrible CVT (from a driving point of view) We swore off of Subaru when we trade it in.