What Irked You Today?

[Harry P.]

Yeah but what happened to him is right up there with the package being lost in transit. Not the same as the store not having or somebody in front of you grabbing the last one. And yeah youare probably payihg for shipping instead of gas.

And if you drive 50 miles to buy a kit, you're paying for gas plus sales tax on the kit. Plus your time.

Let's see... I want a specific kit. My choices are to drive a 50 mile round trip to the LHS to buy it, plus my time, the cost of gas, and sales tax... or I can sit here and order the same kit with a few clicks of the keyboard and have the item arrive at my door in a few days.

Don't know about you, but the choice is obvious to me. I like to make things as simple as possible.

And besides... the internet never closes, it has the largest inventory in the world, and I can search literally the entire world for the lowest price on the item I want. Try hopping in your car and driving from store to store to compare prices, and see how well that goes. And how long it takes you. I'll take the internet any day, thank you very much!

[cobraman]

I buy probably 80 % of my kits on line, mostly ebay. You do have to watch those shipping charges. Seems there are more and more people trying to pad their profits by charging a too high cost for shipping. I do realize that the sellers do need to buy packing materials and make a trip to the PO which is worth something but still some are out of line IMO.

[bismarck]

Ran into that on the bay too. It looks like a deal till you average in the shipping cost versus buying from say, Model Roundup. Depending on what you buy, Jack generally charges a flat 9.99 or so for shipping which is about right for where I live. But some of these characters charge more for shipping than the original purchase. I know that you can add your own filters for certain shipping costs, but it is getting alittle out of hand.

Edited August 31, 2015 by bismarck

[Harry P.]

Like Ray said, you have to watch shipping costs... a lot of ebayers make a profit on that by jacking up the shipping to ridiculous levels. I don't buy from people who do that.

If I buy on ebay, I filter by lowest price including shipping. I don't want the lowest price for the item only, I want the lowest price total.

[crazyjim]

If ebay shipping prices are to high (according to me) I'll send the seller a message asking for a better postage rate.  Sometimes they'll lower it and I'll buy.  No answer or no change means I don't buy.

[disabled modeler]

Mine needs an air horn that will rattle the windows in a car near me...amazing how they cant see a huge pickup...with emergency lights on the roof?

People that are too quick to take a opportunity to jump on someone without knowing what their talking about....obviously because they had a bad day maybe???    The bad thing is it was someone on here.

And yet it grows because people love to start the stuff... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

[dieseldawg142]

......

Edited May 11, 2018 by dieseldawg142

[Tom Geiger]

 

And besides... the internet never closes, it has the largest inventory in the world, and I can search literally the entire world for the lowest price on the item I want. Try hopping in your car and driving from store to store to compare prices, and see how well that goes. And how long it takes you. I'll take the internet any day, thank you very much!

I buy a ton of stuff on-line and specifically on eBay.  I'm currently waiting for 5 iPhone car chargers and a part for my pool vacuum.  I just received a new top for my Geo Tracker too!   But there are times that my hand starts to hurt from holding the mouse all day and I want to get out from the house.  Then I go to brick and mortar stores !

[dieseldawg142]

........

 

Edited May 11, 2018 by dieseldawg142

[Rob Hall]

Went to a neighborhood coffee shop for breakfast this morning...I got my coffee and bagel, sat down and looked at my receipt...only to see a senior discount (I'm 45).  I'm not sure if it was that I looked tired and haggard at 6am, or the Millenial behind the counter really thought I was that old...

At lunch, I got to ride in a coworker's '15 Mustang...first time I'd been inside one.  They look great outside, but wow..they feel really small inside...the sloping roofline really cuts into backseat headroom, though there is more front seat headroom than my old Foxes. But I've driven a few '05-14 style Mustangs, and this car felt smaller inside...steeper windshield rake and smaller side windows.   Felt smooth, though.

Edited September 1, 2015 by Rob Hall

[Crazy Ed]

     Sent a Camera and Lens into Nikon for Repair. They received them last Monday (USPS Priority delivery conformation) and I've been "chatting"with  a Rep since last Wed. Today I get a message from the Rep "Still Looking and since you sent it USPS it could take 1 week or two for us to get it", and time stamped  2 minutes later a message with the repair quote for the Lens, and still the sound of Crickets still about the Camera. Tomorrow if still no word about the Camera I think it's 'bout time I start Giving Ulcers! There are times I enjoy giving Ulcers and it's been a while since I last had a chance to...........

[Guest]

Uh, did you read the post about where he went to the store and came away empty?

That is his issue. I can always find something I want or need. Never left a hobby shop without something in hand. And so what if he did, there is still satisfaction in enjoying the experience.  I like getting out of the house and getting away for awhile.

[charlie8575]

 

Another one of those warning signs about the folly of over-reliance on technology. 

Sure, it's great when it works. And when it doesn't, if there's no backup plan in place, everything stops.

But hey...most everyone seems to live in a la-la-land where computers never crash, all data is secure, the power never fails, ad nauseam.

Many systems this society increasingly depends on are horribly vulnerable to a lot of things besides weather.

Might be time to take a little time-out for a reality check.

 

Bill, I've been saying the same thing for years. I always get poo-pooed. 

To go with the experience you and Dan had today.

I had to go grab a hammer to put together some RTA furniture for my office (that was my irk of the day.) And the hardware store down the street from where my office is (incidentally, the oldest, continually operating hardware store in America- opened in 1782,) had a problem with the register. 

No problem, the clerk grabbed a three-part invoice out of the printer, hand-wrote the sale, my credit card number and had me sign, they'll process it sometime tomorrow. 

Solved quickly and easily.

Harry, dear God, I hope not....

 

Charlie Larkin

[bismarck]

Bill, I've been saying the same thing for years. I always get poo-pooed. 

To go with the experience you and Dan had today.

I had to go grab a hammer to put together some RTA furniture for my office (that was my irk of the day.) And the hardware store down the street from where my office is (incidentally, the oldest, continually operating hardware store in America- opened in 1782,) had a problem with the register. 

No problem, the clerk grabbed a three-part invoice out of the printer, hand-wrote the sale, my credit card number and had me sign, they'll process it sometime tomorrow. 

Solved quickly and easily.

Harry, dear God, I hope not....

 

Charlie Larkin

That is just the  kind of common sense solution to tech problems that we need MORE of in this country. But since the computer tells us its not possible, we sit on our hands and give up.....

[Pete J.]

That is just the  kind of common sense solution to tech problems that we need MORE of in this country. But since the computer tells us its not possible, we sit on our hands and give up.....

Good points, but this is a problem with those who have grown up with technology and don't know any different.  There was a time when the first year in engineering schools was spent in the machine shop becoming a knowledgeable machinist, if not a skilled one.  Now engineers go straight to the computer labs and create unbuildable stuff.  You need to have a hands on knowledge of materials and processes to design and build.  Same with math.  You need to be able to understand the formulas and how they interact to be skilled and pencil and paper is the best way to get that knowledge.  Plug and play is the worst deficiency in the world.  I had a computer tech teacher back in 1968(yes they had computers then but they filled rooms) say that a computer is not smart.  It is just a five year old idiots that can think very fast.  That is still true.  You have to be able to phrase a question correctly to get the right answer.  That starts with a pencil with an eraser and a pad of paper.  Learn how to do it the old fashion way and then you can manipulate the technology.

Edited September 1, 2015 by Pete J.

[bismarck]

Agreed. We have that problem with our engineering staff here where I work. They have talent, but no practical experience. I tell them all the time that while they are busy trying to re-invent the wheel, they would do well to remember that the diploma they earned from college or trade school is a LEARNERS PERMIT, not a license that states they know everything... And I agree about the generational thing too. I'll be the first to admit that I can't do HALF of the stuff that the younger generations can do with computers. I'm just an analogue man in a digital world.

Edited September 1, 2015 by bismarck

[dieseldawg142]

 

 

.....

Edited May 11, 2018 by dieseldawg142

[Guest]

left with nothing, not by choice though 

yup, so true.....

Well, give me a call next time, lol, I won't let you leave empty handed!

[jbwelda]

wow now THATS funny: someone had the nerve to stand up in front of you at a Counting Crows concert! and someone had the nerve to be DANCING of all things.

that's what people DO at concerts, old dude, enjoy themselves. maybe you should have tried it instead of being an uptight old codger. when in rome...and all that. what would you have done if those people had lit up a big fat spliff and offered it to your wife (aka "womenfolk" in your neck of the woods)? come all unglued and called for the police?

and believe me, that internet tough guy stuff don't work so well out here in real life. writing it is one thing, but I wouldn't advise trying it for real. you never know who you are messing with, and that's the truth.

jb

 

 

[High octane]

wow now THATS funny: someone had the nerve to stand up in front of you at a Counting Crows concert! and someone had the nerve to be DANCING of all things.

that's what people DO at concerts, old dude, enjoy themselves. maybe you should have tried it instead of being an uptight old codger. when in rome...and all that. what would you have done if those people had lit up a big fat spliff and offered it to your wife (aka "womenfolk" in your neck of the woods)? come all unglued and called for the police?

and believe me, that internet tough guy stuff don't work so well out here in real life. writing it is one thing, but I wouldn't advise trying it for real. you never know who you are messing with, and that's the truth.

jb

 

 

Is that what they call the "concert police?" This isn't the 60's anymore as people are a LOT different today, than when some of us were growing up, or at least getting older.

[mike 51]

".... that internet tough guy stuff don't work so well."

All in a vain effort to impress complete strangers....  

Edited September 1, 2015 by mike 51

[Rob Hall]

I've gone to a lot of concerts over the last 30 years, depends on the artist, venue and audience, but standing at the beginning, during the first few songs, during fan favorites, or during the final set is pretty common...usually everyone sits down eventually.   Being able to see over people is easier in a stadium than a smaller venue...

The things that really irk me at concerts or sporting events are people goofing around w/ their phone, getting up and down frequently to go to the bathroom or concession stand, etc..esp. in stadiums that have very little room between rows.

Edited September 2, 2015 by Rob Hall

[charlie8575]

Good points, but this is a problem with those who have grown up with technology and don't know any different.  There was a time when the first year in engineering schools was spent in the machine shop becoming a knowledgeable machinist, if not a skilled one.  Now engineers go straight to the computer labs and create unbuildable stuff.  You need to have a hands on knowledge of materials and processes to design and build.  Same with math.  You need to be able to understand the formulas and how they interact to be skilled and pencil and paper is the best way to get that knowledge.  Plug and play is the worst deficiency in the world.  I had a computer tech teacher back in 1968(yes they had computers then but they filled rooms) say that a computer is not smart.  It is just a five year old idiots that can think very fast.  That is still true.  You have to be able to phrase a question correctly to get the right answer.  That starts with a pencil with an eraser and a pad of paper.  Learn how to do it the old fashion way and then you can manipulate the technology.

Agreed. We have that problem with our engineering staff here where I work. They have talent, but no practical experience. I tell them all the time that while they are busy trying to re-invent the wheel, they would do well to remember that the diploma they earned from college or trade school is a LEARNERS PERMIT, not a license that states they know everything... And I agree about the generational thing too. I'll be the first to admit that I can't do HALF of the stuff that the younger generations can do with computers. I'm just an analogue man in a digital world.

So true on all counts. My dad went to B.U. in the 1960s for Aerospace engineering, and from what he said, he had to take basic machining by sophomore year, give or take. As well as drafting, and most of the math a math student would take in four years. One of the reasons I never became an engineer, anything after Algebra I for me is a lost cause. 

When I designed a new version of high school when I did my M.Ed. in 2012-13, when I was still considering at least staying in K-12 on a part-time basis, I horrified a lot of people by de-emphasizing a lot of technology and encouraging older methodologies in learning, my observation being that so many kids had become brain-dead because of the magic boxes, they could do little or nothing. 

So many teachers found it disturbing, yet did nothing to alleviate the problems, but pushed more computers on them, like drug dealers feeding an addict. And this fixes problems how? 

But I'm dumb and know nothing....

Gee, I wonder why I stopped teaching. Before Christmas, I'm hoping to have my own line of model products available for sale, and with the exception of perhaps a special-interest high school class for entrepreneurship or some college teaching, I ain't lookin' back.

Charlie Larkin 

[slusher]

Watching the news and someone had beaten a miniature poodle and threw him in an empty  dumpster to die. Someone looked in at the business while throwing away trash and found it breathing. They know it has lost an eye and has lived 1 night but only has 30 percent chance of living. Now this really upsets me... 

[disabled modeler]

Watching the news and someone had beaten a miniature poodle and threw him in an empty  dumpster to die. Someone looked in at the business while throwing away trash and found it breathing. They know it has lost an eye and has lived 1 night but only has 30 percent chance of living. Now this really upsets me... 

That is horrible Carl....