Things I learned today...

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Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2008 3:56 am

1. If the battery light goes on in the car take it immediately to the mechanic - even if it goes off.

2. It's okay to sit in the middle of an intersection with a police car behind you. Their flashing lights are pretty. Be sure to put your hood up so people know you are not getting busted for drugs.

3. Morris is the nicest tow truck man around. He knew I had been sitting in a hot car for almost 2 hours and he brought me a cold bottle of water. It was 95 degrees.

4. If your auto mechanic customer rep tells you that it will be $680.00 and that they don't have the part in stock ask him to locate one at an auto parts store. It's cheaper. Be sure to bring printouts from the internet.

5. It's okay to discipline your children in public. Poor Mother spent the last 2 1/2 hours with me in the waiting room with two hot, sleepy and hungry kids. If I ever meet 2 1/2 year old Brian again it will be too soon. I have never known a child that age to throw such fits. And, Mother, just talking to him doesn't work. Paddle his behind or give him the look! I will teach you. He went screaming around the lounge because he couldn't get his way. He also would run screaming into the bathroom and flush the toilet (can we say psychiatrist in 10 years?).

6. Thank the service man for rescuing me from the unruly kids! A lot! They could hear them in the parts department with the door to the lounge closed. And, why did the Mother turn up the volume on the tv? It didn't cover up the noise....it projected it.

Thank you for letting me vent. Smile

Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2008 4:27 am

I had an alternator burn up in the middle of an intersection a couple of years ago. It started making a horrible noise. Fortunately I had the sense to stop. The next stop was way out in the wilderness.

Finally sold the vehicle... Cool

Glad you were safe. Now ou probably don't want to have kids. Laughing

Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2008 6:44 am

Hope you're feeling better! If it helps, imagine if you were a lad driving 600km to pick up something that's not there. Then smile if you want.

I've had my share of breakdowns myself, so I've been there. I own and am owned by a GMC (Get My Chequebook) myself, but it seems to enjoy failing at -20C instead of on nice hot days. Still my heart is with you. And don't mind the bratty kids you had to put up with. If nothing else, be glad they're not yours!

Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2008 8:44 am

Quote:

It was 95 degrees

Well, that rules out the UK!

Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2008 9:03 am

Chibuike wrote:

If I ever meet 2 1/2 year old Brian again it will be too soon. I have never known a child that age to throw such fits.

I have one of those. Took it to the beach at the weekend, cue large tantrum over choice of bathing suit/boogie board/anything. One smacked arse later and scandalised looks from other beach users.

Laughing

Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2008 11:07 am

There is nothing wrong with a proper smack for a young child. It teaches cause and effect. Delaying or multiple hits only cause resentment.
The way things are going it won't be long before you can't tell your dog to sit.

Chibuike glad it all worked out in the end. I hate cars Smile

Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2008 11:43 am

harrya wrote:

The way things are going it won't be long before you can't tell your dog to sit.

@Chibuike Sorry for your traumatizing experience, tho now you are probably a stronger person for it. Wink

Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2008 11:44 am

Chibuike I feel your pain, as someone that been there on both sides of the counter, problems with my own cars and people with car problem that have come to me for help.
when I was still wenching I had a customer with a 3YO demon, they had lost a powerstreering pump on the highway and got towed to my shop, I had the car on the lift and working under it and I could hear the "nice little boy" yelling and screeming at the top of his lungs, running around making a mess out of my little waiting area, and mind you there was a TV and books and little kid toys to keep the little darlings happy, he trashed it and at one point I heard noise behind me. I turned around and here this little shit in my tool box taking evverything out of the drawers. I grabbed the kid by the arm and dragged him back to the waiting area the little bastard kicked me in the shin.
I told his mother to keep control of him. all she did is give me a "screw you" look and went back to her reading, when I got done with the car and gave her the bill I had added a 150.00 aggravation and clean up charge. I didnt think she would pay it but she did. and I even pointed it out and told her why that was there. and she was fine with it. after she and the evil little monster left I when to get a soda out of the waiting room and it was a complete mess, magazines thrown everywhere the 40 cup coffee pot was poured on the floor. toys were broken, ive seen less damage from tornados, I never did find a coulpe tools. and in hind sight I should have charged her 300 aggravation fee.

Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2008 12:12 pm

^^You should have sent her another bill. Since she paid the original w/ no problem. Which makes you think she's had to pay similar charges b4. Wouldn't just be easier & cheaper to control your kid??? Confused

Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2008 8:40 pm

I had an old car a number of years ago that had a light in the trunk (= boot) which had to be turned on and off by hand.

I learned that leaving that light on while doing a two week concert tour on a bus through France will cause your battery to die.

I also learned that parking the car down at the far end of the parking lot (= car park) in the shade sounds like a good idea. However, when the tour bus gets back to said parking lot, after two weeks on the road, at 2.00 AM, the car's cool inside anyway.

I learned that by the time you get to the other end of the parking lot, everybody else has left, because they parked their cars up near where the bus was.

I learned that that's a crappy time to discover that the battery's dead.

I also learned that a lonely parking lot near the highway - a few km's outside the nearest city - suddenly isn't as covenient as it appeared two weeks before.

I also learned that after spending the past 12 hours on the bus on the way back through France and Germany, those last 60 km's you have to travel to get home - and laughed about a few minutes before - are very, very, very long.

I also learned that heavy rain is no help when trying to fiddle around under the hood (= bonnet) in the pitch dark.

I also learned that it would have been cool if somebody had already invented the cell phone at the time, which wasn't the case.

Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2008 9:20 pm

^^^^Thank God, I'm not the only one!

My only redeeming part to yesterday's adventure was when 2 1/2 year old Brian was eating the Cheetos that his Mother had bought him. She seemed to think that food could control her children. Brian came screaming over to me with orange hands. I looked him dead in the eye and said "No!". He stopped and realized I wasn't to be fooled with and went to a quiet spot on the floor. He dumped all his Cheetos on the floor and proceeded to eat them. Mother was not paying attention to him because she was trying to handling Brian's sister Lauren's hissy fit. It wasn't until the last Cheeto went in his mouth that she realized what he had done. Mother became upset. I just looked at her and said "It will help build up his immune system."

Thanks everyone for your supportive comments.

Not quite a Newb Joined: 14 Jul 2005 Posts: 41

Quote:

It's okay to sit in the middle of an intersection with a police car behind you. Their flashing lights are pretty. Be sure to put your hood up so people know you are not getting busted for drugs.

I'm sorry that you had a crappy day, ma'am, but this really cracked me up. Laughing

Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2008 10:33 pm

Ritalin. Rhymes with Discipline. works nearly as well.

My stepson has ADHD and ASD and can react very badly if things go off track - motor breakdowns are the classic example of this. Also, synthetic orange or red food colorings are something to avoid (coal tar Azo dyes like tartrazine and sunset yellow). i wish I'd known about where these are and aren't, he got on fine with fruit flavoured Lucozade but old-style original Lucozade provoked a screaming rage, bellowing abuse and climbing out of windows and beating up his brother. Turns out one has betacarotene (basically, carrot extract) for a colouring, the other has the evil sunset yellow.

wierdly, so does green food colouring. whoops, didn't see that one coming.

now I check the ingredients on ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING I BUY without exception.

Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2008 11:41 pm

@packman-been there,done that.My congratulations on pulling off something I always wanted to try

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