What Irked You Today?

[russosborne]

The Pinto site I am on has been down for a week. Something about using too much of the provider's resources so they shut it down.

Site owner is trying to get something worked out, but I am going thru serious withdrawals.

Russ

[Lordmodelbuilder]

Finding out earlier today that my gf's apartment burned up. She and the people down stairs all got out ok,but she thinks she lost everything.

 

[slusher]

This one really hurt, my I-pad crash. Real bad time of the year....

[Ace-Garageguy]

On 11/20/2018 at 12:49 AM, slusher said:

This one really hurt, my I-pad crash. Real bad time of the year....

That really bites any time of year. Hope it's an easy fix with no data lost.

[Ace-Garageguy]

For me, it's same-old same-old. Websites whose functionality comes and goes for no apparent reason, USPS delivery drivers who either can't read or are too lazy to get out of the truck and walk 40 feet, parts and equipment suppliers whose "tech support" and sales staff doesn't have a clue most of the time, parts catalogs that are put together by marketing people and copywriters with zero knowledge of the products, and little to no hard data, etc.

It's getting harder and harder to accomplish anything in this "everybody's a winner" culture where self-esteem is based on feel-good baloney, people can't be fired or chewed out for incompetence or negligence, and as long as the salary checks clear, there's no incentive to try to do GOOD work...just show up and go through the motions seems to be today's "work ethic".

I have two jobs to finish up and I'm done...but it gets harder every day to deal with society-wide incompetence that's accepted as the norm, and if you have the audacity to say anything about it, you're "mean" or "abusive" or "unjustly critical".

It's going to be really interesting to see what happens when there's simply nobody left who can DO anything but sit in front of a computer.

[High octane]

That last line of yours Ace is really a scary thought.

[NYLIBUD]

Yea great the start of the stupid holiday season is upon us again,,,,,like the plague..

[JollySipper]

I'm MAD! 

I'm madder'n a spotted puppy under a little red wagon........ no, that's just how cute I am

I'm madder'n a fart in a pair of panty hose....... no, wait.... that's just how trapped I feel

That bunches my britches.....

That gripes my craw.......

Happy Thanksgiving, Guys!  

[NYLIBUD]

Oh but yea,Happy Thanksgiving to one and all.

[peteski]

11 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

It's going to be really interesting to see what happens when there's simply nobody left who can DO anything but sit in front of a computer.

I guess at that point we will have to let in all those people from Mexico and South America to handle all those manual-labor jobs nobody else is willing to, or capable of doing.

Edited November 22, 2018 by peteski

[Ace-Garageguy]

4 minutes ago, peteski said:

I guess at that point we will have to let in all those people from Mexico and South America to handle all those manual-labor jobs nobody else is willing to, or capable of doing.

Boy, is that one potentially explosive political can of worms. No further comment.  

[peteski]

5 minutes ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

Boy, is that one potentially explosive political can of worms. No further comment.  

Sure is!  I was just trolling a bit - I admit it.   But I agree that at some point our society will be in a dire need of old-fashion laborers.  Unless all those glued to computer screens can design robots (which will then be manufactured in China) which will be capable of doing all that manual labor. 

Edited November 22, 2018 by peteski

[Ace-Garageguy]

1 minute ago, peteski said:

... But I agree that at some point out society will be in a dire need of old fashion laborers...

Well, while trying to avoid starting a firestorm, I see that there's no shortage of "laborers" capable of doing yard work, or digging ditches, pouring concrete reasonably well (though if you look closely at foundations, curbs and sidewalks built in the last few years and compare them to what was done 50 years back, the recent stuff doesn't look so hot), working on road crews, or other low-skilled work.

What there IS a desperate shortage of, and it's getting worse every day, is the highly-skilled tradesmen like good finish carpenters, good plumbers, good painters, good car mechanics and bodymen, good HVAC techs, etc. It actually takes a pretty high relative IQ to be competent in ANY of those fields, which is a point usually missed entirely by the social engineers. There are PLENTY of hackers in those jobs who misdiagnose things, perform unnecessary repairs, do the repair work just flat wrong, and ruin everything they touch. Many of them are reading, language, or math challenged to the point where they just can NOT perform at the level this civilization requires...and I don't see anyone addressing this, at all, ever.

That is the scary part.

[peteski]

I absolutely agree with you about the disappearance of quality work. This is true for both, the unskilled and skilled tasks.  Crappy sidewalk repairs and crappy car repairs for example.  But most of those unskilled laborers don't want to clean bathrooms or hotel rooms, be short order cooks, or do many similar jobs.  But you are right, lets not get too deep into this here.

Just to let you know, I agree with your rants I read here about the rampant incompetence of the today's world. I also do not see this problem going away anytime soon (if ever).

[HomerS]

Sadly, these companies are too focused on the $$ more than the quality of their work.  I've been in commercial real estate for almost 30 years (property management, facilities management and leasing) and know the cost of certain things.  I tip my hand and tell the contractor my background with the thought these companies are going to be realistic with the estimate....wrong!!  I understand that manpower, equipment, insurance, etc each add up but the profit levels were just more than I found reasonable.

Roof replacement.....two quotes well over $11k for a complete tear off two layers and new shingles.  Neighbor had their roof done and I had their contractor do mine....cost? Just under $8k!  And a year later I gave them a co-workers house because they treated my right!

Garage door replacement......$450 for just the install.  YouTube'd it and bribed my oldest to do it for $200.  All the garage door companies want to double dip selling the door AND installing it.

Tree branches hanging over the driveway if they fall will pull the wires from the house......$600 to trim a couple branches.  Called the utility company and told them if they are close to the wires.  Couple hours later I hear the utility company's contractor in the driveway with chainsaw's roaring....no charge.

[Tom Geiger]

8 hours ago, HomerS said:

Sadly, these companies are too focused on the $$ more than the quality of their work.  I've been in commercial real estate for almost 30 years (property management, facilities management and leasing) and know the cost of certain things.  I tip my hand and tell the contractor my background with the thought these companies are going to be realistic with the estimate....wrong!!  I understand that manpower, equipment, insurance, etc each add up but the profit levels were just more than I found reasonable.

Jeff, I have a similar background in real estate and facility management (I'm a CFM).  I've run multi million dollar renovations.   And I see the same thing as you when I need work done on my own 1:1 diorama.   Add in a high end house, and the goobs double the quotes!   It seems that when they have work, they quote high and if we're stupid enough to hire them, they'll add that work to their list.   I like catching them when they don't have work and will be realistic.  I'm not looking for anyone to work for nothing,  I understand everyone deserves to earn a living, but I estimate out fair market value and will only pay that for a job.

Last summer I needed to put up a new fence around my pool.  I wanted the black aluminum wrought iron look.  I estimated out the removal of the old one,  a dumpster,  bill of materials and labor.  It came to $6500.    I went to the neighborhood newsletter and called in the most recommended contractor.  They send a salesman.   He measures it off, and we discuss details.  He wants to drop materials out back.. I tell him that its not my property.  He doesn't like that and says it will cost extra to get the materials via my driveway.  He also wants me to cut out all the vegetation etc from the work area.  Then from a printer in his car, he produces a contract for $14,000.  Sign here, no money down, no interest for 3 years!  Better sign now, their schedule is filling up!  When I decline, salesman says that every week they have a drawing from all the sales they made that week for $1000 off.  So my cost may be ONLY $13,000.   I send him on his way.

I call in another five contractors.  Two never call back.  Three come for a look see.  I never hear from one of them.  One gives me an estimate at... guess what?  $6500!  Only he wants to do the work without a permit and be paid up front in cash.  Um no, did you see a turnip truck parked around here somewhere?  The last guy I liked instantly.  I"m one of those people who are  big on first impressions and usually right.  The salesman from company number one calls back.  Guess what?  I won the weekly raffle!  Now he want's $13,000 for the job. 

The guy I like calls the next day.  He's at $6000.  He wants me to pull the permit, and doesn't balk at providing an insurance certificate. He has no problem carrying the materials from the driveway. He will cut back the vegetation.  I level with him on cost and ask him to verify his numbers.  He's $500 lower because he's not using a dumpster.  He's got a trailer and he's hauling the old fence back to his shop where he has recycling bins for both wood and metal.  I hire him and give him a check for $1000.    The salesman from company one calls again.  Would I do the job for $12,000?  I tell him I hired someone for half that and I never hear from him again.

I go to the town for my permit and the guys there have never heard of my contractor, even though he's just a few towns away.  They tell me most of their fence permits are for... guess this,  Contractor ONE!   Yea, every sucker in town has paid double for their fence.

My contractor shows up when he said he will.    One day removal. Two days installation.  The crew is three guys.  The owner's son is the lead.  A guy who looks like he's from a 1960s band is the skilled installer.  A young guy with big muscles is the material handler.  He performs the job exactly as we outlined.  Everything done to code and perfect. 

Then two days after we finish, there is a storm and a huge tree comes down.... right on the new fence!  It takes out two sections, and two posts.  I call him, he comes and looks and tells me that he has those parts surplus in his warehouse.  His guys should be finishing a job this week at a half day mark.  Could they come and fix it then... for free?!  Absolutely!  The two guys come and replace the two sections. I tipped them each $20.  I have since recommended this contractor each and every time someone asks about fencing on the neighborhood newsletter.  

[slusher]

On November 21, 2018 at 9:29 AM, Ace-Garageguy said:

That really bites any time of year. Hope it's an easy fix with no data lost.

My brother in law fix the I-pad in a few minutes good to have a computer programmer in the family....

[Classicgas]

Model builders that insist on adding spark plug wires that resemble either a daddy long legs spider or a water fountain. It detracts from a otherwise stellar build. The model would look better with no wires. There is really no reason for it. Reference photos can be found in seconds.

[Renegade]

Tom, good to hear we still have reputable people out there as customer service seems to be a thing of the past. It seems to have gone from the customer is always right to take the money and run. When I find someone who treats me right I always recommend them to anyone needing their services. There are some good people out there, sadly they are getting few and far between.

[KWT]

I'll tell you what irked me today... over the last couple weeks I have laid down an awesome black paint job on a Revellogram 78 trans am. Resourced an old set of decals for TA lettering, and placed them. Then covered it with a WET slick clear coat... OMG I was so tickled with how it had all came out....... Until today... The first pic shows how it looked before the clear.

mmmm... I seen better, but this was mmmm mmmmmmm  good.... now it looks like this....

This makes you wanna throw it all away....

[restoman]

Having to park this away under cover for another winter... irritates me every time. 

The dog cheers me up, though.

[Ace-Garageguy]

1 hour ago, KWT said:

I...mmmm... I seen better, but this was mmmm mmmmmmm  good.... now it looks like this....

        This makes you wanna throw it all away....

I'm really sorry to see that happen to you. Seriously. BUT...it's a great reminder to everyone to check compatibility of ALL your materials BEFORE committing to painting a model.

[KWT]

27 minutes ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

I'm really sorry to see that happen to you. Seriously. BUT...it's a great reminder to everyone to check compatibility of ALL your materials BEFORE committing to painting a model.

Thanks. I do concur. I think I'm gonna send my next one to someone else, as I'll NEVER get one that slick again.

You would think same brand paint/clear would be compatible... Oh well... Back to eBay.

[STYRENE-SURFER]

Got totally hosed on a trade with a forum member!

Not only did this person withhold  the lousy condition of it (this is the kind of thing that I would only expect in 1to1 car salesmen)

but also MISREPRESENTED  (I'm using this word in place of LIED in the case this person has no real model building knowledge and is

only here to trade and sell models) the fact that it had been painted and poorly stripped.

You know who you are  "BUDDY"

[ChrisBcritter]

On 11/21/2015 at 7:40 PM, ChrisBcritter said:

Well, shoot. First snow of the season did this:

At least it mostly missed my car, and the limb on the roof didn't dent it.

Well, shoot, 2018 edition:

Again, first snow of the season, this time with a car cover and fewer branches.