What Irked You Today?

[Ace-Garageguy]

1 hour ago, cobraman said:

My 12 year old Whirlpool is living on borrowed time. ?

 

6 hours ago, espo said:

 the sales lady says non of them last more than 8 to 9 years anymore...

My 60+ year old GE...bought used...still works just fine, never needed anything. It doesn't hook up to the internet though, so it can't possibly be any good. 

Edited April 24, 2020 by Ace-Garageguy

[slusher]

7 hours ago, cobraman said:

My 12 year old Whirlpool is living on borrowed time. ?

mine is also 20 years i think its a Frigidaire bought it at Sears..

[slusher]

15 hours ago, TarheelRick said:

Went into town yesterday.  Wife had a doctor's appointment, so I decided to make the most of the trip.  Hooked my trailer up to my truck so I could stop by the home improvement store to pick up some lumber and other supplies to work on my storage shed.  On the way back home I had to come down the interstate.  Problem #1 this section of I-77 has been under construction for more than a year and the repaired, new concrete sections are rougher than the original.  But problem #2 is what really irked me.  There are signs up for a couple of miles "Right land closed ahead", most of you know where I am going with this.  As we got closer to the bottleneck some idiot is an older Durango decided he wanted to pass on the right.  There were a couple of 18 wheelers in front of me and he couldn't get past them.  As the road narrowed he decided he wanted to be where I was and started moving over.  This "Person - insert favorite expletive here) crowded me until I was within inches of the concrete barriers and he was within inches of my front fender.  I had no choice but to back off and let him in.  He just looked back at me with a smirk on his face.  Almost makes me wish I had a concealed carry license.  Of course I could have pulled an Earnhardt on him and nudged him into the traffic cones.  If I had been alone and without the trailer I might have done that; I could use a new truck.

There is no courttesy on the road any more. 

[espo]

13 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

 

My 60+ year old GE...bought used...still works just fine, never needed anything. It doesn't hook up to the internet though, so it can't possibly be any good. 

What she shared with us was that the change in the life span of a refrigerator came about when the Government Energy Standards came about. I don't understand how that would happen, but with your background my be you have some insight as to how that would be possible.  

[Tom Geiger]

I think it’s more the “value engineering” that goes on today.. constant reviews of the product to be able to make it quicker and cheaper. Materials are swapped for cheaper quality parts to make a buck.  And it really doesn’t benefit a manufacturer if their product lasts 60 years!

 

[OldTrucker]

9 minutes ago, Tom Geiger said:

I think it’s more the “value engineering” that goes on today.. constant reviews of the product to be able to make it quicker and cheaper. Materials are swapped for cheaper quality parts to make a buck.  And it really doesn’t benefit a manufacturer if their product lasts 60 years!

 

My great grandma in 1981 shortly before cancer got her called it "built to break"!

She came to the conclusion that big manufacturers decided that huge profits were more important to them than being known as a company of quality!

If they break soon after warranty and repair costs are too high then they get to sell more units and make more money!

We now have evolved into a throw away society. We buy cheap and just replace rather than repair never giving thougt to how much that "cheap" really costs in the end!

 

[Ace-Garageguy]

2 hours ago, espo said:

What she shared with us was that the change in the life span of a refrigerator came about when the Government Energy Standards came about. I don't understand how that would happen, but with your background my be you have some insight as to how that would be possible.  

 

1 hour ago, OldTrucker said:

My great grandma in 1981 shortly before cancer got her called it "built to break"!

She came to the conclusion that big manufacturers decided that huge profits were more important to them than being known as a company of quality!

If they break soon after warranty and repair costs are too high then they get to sell more units and make more money!

We now have evolved into a throw away society. We buy cheap and just replace rather than repair never giving thougt to how much that "cheap" really costs in the end!

 

 

1 hour ago, Tom Geiger said:

I think it’s more the “value engineering” that goes on today.. constant reviews of the product to be able to make it quicker and cheaper. Materials are swapped for cheaper quality parts to make a buck.  And it really doesn’t benefit a manufacturer if their product lasts 60 years!

 

The fact that product longevity began decreasing at about the time energy standards came into play is purely coincidental. And coincidence is not causation.

Johnny's remark about being "built to break" is spot on. When I was young, the term was "planned obsolescence" and manufacturers who practiced it were reviled by the more aware segments of consumerland.

The world has changed though, and not always for the better...contrary to the opinions of those who shout "Luddite" at anyone who doesn't enthusiastically embrace everything new, even if it's just plain stupid.

Toms reference to "value engineering" is also dead on target. It involves uprating lower quality components and materials...essentially lying about the fitness for a particular application during the design phase...and outsourcing to "offshore" manufacturers who are notorious for further short-cutting on specs. Couple that with stateside distributors of US-branded but offshore-built junk being somewhat lax on quality control (rampant in the car-parts business), and you get "affordable" garbage products that fail early.

To get my old fridge to be just as "efficient" as the new trash, all that's required is to upgrade the insulation somewhat. It was built when energy was really cheap, so wasn't insulated as well as it could have been. And over the long term, it's probably more energy-efficient to keep a happily-running older machine than to replace it every 10 years with a new one.

People tend to forget that it takes rather a lot of energy to MAKE a refrigerator, too.

 

Edited April 24, 2020 by Ace-Garageguy

[NYLIBUD]

Had a horrible Restless leg syndrome last night.Anybody ever have it?Its like sticking a knife in your lower back,and then run down your legs.....Lol???Ahhhhhhhh??

[espo]

Sounds more like a pinched nerve in your back. 

[NYLIBUD]

No it’s restless leg syndrome.What a stupid conversation this is.lol..???????

[DonW]

39 minutes ago, NYLIBUD said:

No it’s restless leg syndrome.What a stupid conversation this is.lol..???????

Well you started it...

 

[NYLIBUD]

 

1 minute ago, DonW said:

Well you started it...

 

Yes sir you are 100% correct.LOL

[DonW]

Any road up, as they say in northern England, Marmite / Vegemite or just salt might help. I guess they relax the muscles.

[Tom Geiger]

Sirius satellite radio!  I got a free trial when I bought my Hyundai and renewed it for the first two years. I’m no longer commuting so I couldn’t justify the expense. When I got the renewal notice I canceled. These folks suck, they only allow you to cancel live with a phone operator so they can hound you to renew. So you wind up arguing with a woman you cannot understand, who keeps lowering the price. I finally got through that I was indeed canceling, or so I thought.

I get my credit card bill and guess what’s there? Renewal at full price!  Again I spent at least a half hour on the phone with an equally heavily accented woman who wouldn’t take no for an answer. I finally told her she could either cancel me with a complete refund or I would simply call my credit card company and deny the payment. Now I need to watch my card website to make sure they actually did do!

 

[Snake45]

38 minutes ago, Tom Geiger said:

I get my credit card bill and guess what’s there? Renewal at full price!  Again I spent at least a half hour on the phone with an equally heavily accented woman who wouldn’t take no for an answer. I finally told her she could either cancel me with a complete refund or I would simply call my credit card company and deny the payment. Now I need to watch my card website to make sure they actually did do!

BTDT, though not with Sirius. The credit card company cancelled the charge, but also cancelled my credit card on the spot and issued me a new one, which took about a week. I then also had to change my CC number with PayPal, Amazon, and a few other places I regularly use it. BIIIIIIIG PITA! 

[Toner283]

4 hours ago, NYLIBUD said:

Had a horrible Restless leg syndrome last night.Anybody ever have it?Its like sticking a knife in your lower back,and then run down your legs.....Lol???Ahhhhhhhh??

I have it. Used to get so bad some nights that my wife would get mad in bed because I wouldn't hold still for her to go to sleep. And even if she was asleep sometimes it would wake her up. I also have pretty wicked bad sleep apnea. However once I got the CPAP machine for my apnea my restless leg syndrome has basically disappeared. When I was getting tested for sleep apnea the doctors asked me a bunch of questions about things that had been bugging me (like the restless leg syndrome) and had been getting worse over the years and most of it was related to my sleep apnea. Might not be related to yours but just something to think about.

[NYLIBUD]

 

29 minutes ago, Toner283 said:

I have it. Used to get so bad some nights that my wife would get mad in bed because I wouldn't hold still for her to go to sleep. And even if she was asleep sometimes it would wake her up. I also have pretty wicked bad sleep apnea. However once I got the CPAP machine for my apnea my restless leg syndrome has basically disappeared. When I was getting tested for sleep apnea the doctors asked me a bunch of questions about things that had been bugging me (like the restless leg syndrome) and had been getting worse over the years and most of it was related to my sleep apnea. Might not be related to yours but just something to think about.

thank you

[NYLIBUD]

Remembered that your car has to be inspected before it’s registered....But I knew that.What's wrong with me?So know I got to get it inspected in 5 days,so my registration is leagal,then DMV will allow me to register the Jeep.I knew that.Dam.?What is wrong with me?Im waking into walls.Yesterday I fell so hard on my driveway,I’m in my low 50s.What Is going on.How many people are noticing acres and acres of complete absolute dead trees.for miles.Now my neighbors are cutting down there trees.Wtf? Mine are just fine.

Edited April 25, 2020 by NYLIBUD

[NYLIBUD]

Armageddon or not ?????Whats the vote??  

4 minutes ago, NYLIBUD said:

 

4 minutes ago, NYLIBUD said:

 

4 minutes ago, NYLIBUD said:

 

Edited April 25, 2020 by NYLIBUD

[Ace-Garageguy]

2 hours ago, NYLIBUD said:

Armageddon or not ?????Whats the vote??  

Nah. Maybe the dawn of the Idiocracy though.

Or the end of it.

Edited April 26, 2020 by Ace-Garageguy

[NYLIBUD]

So that would be a one tie.

[espo]

Well the refrigerator saga continues. We got lucky and the repair guy was here Friday at 5 P.M. Seems the Condenser on our 30 day old Reffer is leaking and freezing up, parts on order now. I'm calling the Furniture Mart Monday to give them the opportunity to replace it with a new one before I call Channel 41 News. And just when you think nothing else can go wrong you just have to go to the basement and find out your Sump Pump has died. Fortunately I have a few skills and bought and installed a new one. The water wasn't getting onto the floor yet, but the settling cracks in the floor did show moisture. The new pump ran for a couple of hours steady before it got to the point where it was going off and on pumping the water out from under the foundation. I'm almost afraid to ask what tomorrow will bring. 

[slusher]

7 minutes ago, espo said:

Well the refrigerator saga continues. We got lucky and the repair guy was here Friday at 5 P.M. Seems the Condenser on our 30 day old Reffer is leaking and freezing up, parts on order now. I'm calling the Furniture Mart Monday to give them the opportunity to replace it with a new one before I call Channel 41 News. And just when you think nothing else can go wrong you just have to go to the basement and find out your Sump Pump has died. Fortunately I have a few skills and bought and installed a new one. The water wasn't getting onto the floor yet, but the settling cracks in the floor did show moisture. The new pump ran for a couple of hours steady before it got to the point where it was going off and on pumping the water out from under the foundation. I'm almost afraid to ask what tomorrow will bring. 

I this is me but i would buy a new one... My dad tried for 10 years to fix a television and never could..

[Tom Geiger]

10 minutes ago, espo said:I'm almost afraid to ask what tomorrow will bring. 

It sucks when stuff breaks during this pandemic. The head of my HOA sent out a panic email to our development email chain asking if anyone knew a plumber who could install a new water heater quickly. 

He’s a decent guy in a jam so I dropped him a reply that if he was really stuck, I knew how to do the job. He responded with gratitude that he had a plumber on his way there. 

 

[espo]

1 minute ago, slusher said:

I this is me but i would buy a new one... My dad tried for 10 years to fix a television and never could..

The Refrigerator was purchased new from the Furniture Mart on March 18 this year, and started turning my ice cream to soup by April 18. I consider this a rather short life span for any appliance. I want them to replace it with a new Refrigerator because of the defect in the one we purchased.