Minor rant thread. Post your rants o' the day here!

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

When people complain about Northstar starters requiring you lift the intake manifold out of the way, I have a laugh.  At least you can GET it out of the way, instead of just shoving it one way or the other.

 

 

Not the rant.  The rant is, I found out at 4:25 that the starter that they sent (that I am already replacing under warranry) was a used new one in a box.  It had no packaging and fingerprints all over it, so it was installed and removed.   I do not trust that at all.  Won't see a replacement until tomorrow.

Man, if you end up having to do that again, just split the top half off the intake manifold and leave the bottom half attached to the head.  That worked for me.  I think I loosened the top radiator brackets so I could tip it forward, but I didn't remove it, I don't think.

In reply to Duke :

Look, that is what I did.

The problem is the plastic plenum does not fit between the upper plenum and the core support.  And the plastic plenum can't be removed in chassis.

(Vehicle is an '09 CR-V)

Minor win as a result.  I ended up instead hammering out a job that was supposed to be done tomorrow.   Turns out the owner of that vehicle (which was also a CR-V; those things are common here) was dropping off his wife's car tonight for a stalling/drivability issue and was going to take a loaner.  Well, since he had his CR-V back, no need for a loaner.  So Sir Coolant Fog with broken A/C is staying here and I get to take a loaner.

I wonder how cheap EP3s are nowadays, if you can find a stock one...

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

Sorry, I was misreading your pic.  I thought that was the whole IM.

It's been a couple years since I did the starter in my '04 TSX, so I'm hazy.  But in that car I was able to get more clearance than that and I think I had the top half of the manifold completely out of the car.  I do remember doing the starter in my driveway with hand tools in a couple of  hours on a nice day.  And I'm a pretty shady shade tree mechanic.

In reply to Duke :

The cars are definitely easier to work on than the cute utes.  They are a lot longer in the nose, which seems paradoxical, but IIRC most cars that got the K-series were Accord-based and thus engineered to take V6s.

Hmm, maybe I do not want an EP3 after all.  

I have a 13B intake manifold to work on, but berk it.  It has been 90 degrees in the shop all day.  A Honda Fit with functional air conditioning awaits me.

So much drama would be avoided if folks would just be assertive and up front about their feelings and desires. Instead we get a bunch of grief and heartache because nobody is adhering to thoughts and desires that were not articulated. 
 

If you want me to do something, berkin tell me, worst I can say is no. Do NOT get upset that I didn't read your mind and do what you wanted me to. 

Whoever on our city council thought that having 20 agenda items on a conference call work session meeting should be put in a burlap bag and beaten with reeds. It is 10:30 pm and we are only half way through. But I have to sit through the whole thing because they tacked some shady E36 M3 on at the end and someone has to call them on the carpet for it.

barefootskater said:

So much drama would be avoided if folks would just be assertive and up front about their feelings and desires. Instead we get a bunch of grief and heartache because nobody is adhering to thoughts and desires that were not articulated. 
 

If you want me to do something, berkin tell me, worst I can say is no. Do NOT get upset that I didn't read your mind and do what you wanted me to. 

Well if YOU don't KNOW, I'm not telling you.

Been there. Abandon all hope.

slefain said:

Whoever on our city council thought that having 20 agenda items on a conference call work session meeting should be put in a burlap bag and beaten with reeds. It is 10:30 pm and we are only half way through. But I have to sit through the whole thing because they tacked some shady E36 M3 on at the end and someone has to call them on the carpet for it.

Feature, not a bug?

The Achilles tendon in my left leg (and only my left leg) is hurting like hell, about 2 inches up from the top of my heel. I've just recently started jogging again, and I'm guessing I've overdone it and need to stretch and strengthen a bit more before I keep running. Apparently walking barefoot will help with this.

Being old kind of stinks, but I know better than to make things worse by overdoing it.



 

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

slefain said:

Whoever on our city council thought that having 20 agenda items on a conference call work session meeting should be put in a burlap bag and beaten with reeds. It is 10:30 pm and we are only half way through. But I have to sit through the whole thing because they tacked some shady E36 M3 on at the end and someone has to call them on the carpet for it.

Feature, not a bug?

Yup. And I actually found a SECOND shady item buried in the middle of boring city business. Last year one of our councilmen tried to bring our city zoning into the 20th century (not the 21st, we aren't there yet) and was met with an absolutely ludicrous level of hate for even trying. We're talking personal attacks, trying to tie him into some global conspiracy, and just normal "if he's fer it, I'm ag'in it" hate. The people against it demanded that a professional zoning company be the one who makes zoning law suggestions. So he put the brakes on it and we are letting a pro review our laws and tell us what we need to change.

Fast forward to last night. One of our newly elected councilwomen (who ran on STOPPING the zoning update effort) slips two zoning law changes into the agenda. I commented that I thought we had put zoning changes on hold, and that we should let a professional zoning company review it. The original councilman seized the moment asking if we are now doing small zoning changes, because he has a few he'd like to add as well. That stopped the whole thing COLD.

The meeting ended minutes before midnight, but at least they now know people are still paying attention.

How delightfully cheesy are the headlight adjusters on 73-87 GM trucks? 

I notice one of my headlights pointing towards the ground.  I can push it into position, but a springs pushes it back.  Pretty easy to get to--remove bezel with four screws.  Fault lies with the piece of chalky 35-year old plastic.  Good news is I had one go bad a year or two ago and bought a bag of ten of the things and I actually remembered where I put them. 

So I guess this could just as well go in the "Life is good" thread!

But yeah, cheesy plastic part.  Even so, it lasted this long.  Can't complain, really.

That's all, carry on!

Brett_Murphy (Forum Patrón) said:

The Achilles tendon in my left leg (and only my left leg) is hurting like hell, about 2 inches up from the top of my heel. I've just recently started jogging again, and I'm guessing I've overdone it and need to stretch and strengthen a bit more before I keep running. Apparently walking barefoot will help with this.

Being old kind of stinks, but I know better than to make things worse by overdoing it.



 

Definitely rest until the pain is gone.  Stretch. 

I am sold on "barefoot running" shoes that don't prop up your heel and encourage shortness on the heel side of your leg.  The New Balance Minimus MT10 is my everyday shoe.  I honestly can't say enough good things about them.

1988RedT2 said:

How delightfully cheesy are the headlight adjusters on 73-87 GM trucks? 

I notice one of my headlights pointing towards the ground.  I can push it into position, but a springs pushes it back.  Pretty easy to get to--remove bezel with four screws.  Fault lies with the piece of chalky 35-year old plastic.  Good news is I had one go bad a year or two ago and bought a bag of ten of the things and I actually remembered where I put them. 

So I guess this could just as well go in the "Life is good" thread!

But yeah, cheesy plastic part.  Even so, it lasted this long.  Can't complain, really.

That's all, carry on!

I dare you to find a vehicle designed and built in the last 30 years that has a headlight adjuster that works at all, even when new.

In reply to slefain :

It's fun being a pain in the ass, isn't it?  Holding people to standards.  What a jerk you are!

I would pay actual money to watch Rebel Wilson get beaten to death with a whiffle bat.

Streetwiseguy said:

1988RedT2 said:

How delightfully cheesy are the headlight adjusters on 73-87 GM trucks? 

I notice one of my headlights pointing towards the ground.  I can push it into position, but a springs pushes it back.  Pretty easy to get to--remove bezel with four screws.  Fault lies with the piece of chalky 35-year old plastic.  Good news is I had one go bad a year or two ago and bought a bag of ten of the things and I actually remembered where I put them. 

So I guess this could just as well go in the "Life is good" thread!

But yeah, cheesy plastic part.  Even so, it lasted this long.  Can't complain, really.

That's all, carry on!

I dare you to find a vehicle designed and built in the last 30 years that has a headlight adjuster that works at all, even when new.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that my explorer was not only easy to adjust, but worked exactly as planned

Refrigerator is doing random temps, 37F to 50F and back.  Trying a last ditch 48hr defrost.  Florida room roof leak is actually the main roof and looking like I'll be paying mostly out of pocket.

Seriously thinking of adulting and selling the WRX to pay for this stuff, at least a chunk.

Duke said:

I would pay actual money to watch Rebel Wilson get beaten to death with a whiffle bat.

 

You got a legitimate LOLzers out of me. Thank you.

Made it through the colonoscopy this morning (and more importantly, the prep for it yesterday...) without any issues other than essentially losing the whole day. Got wheeled in and put under at 8:30 and was back home by 10:30- but then proceeded to pass out in bed for another 6 hours (and am still a bit on the foggy side). Oh, well- I had told work I might be out all day today so no real loss there other than a vacation/sick day. At least if nothing serious goes wrong I won't have to do that again for another decade...

In reply to Ashyukun (Robert) :

I'm 55 and my new doc read into how I've not had one yet (no one's asked me to) that I was reluctant to go through the procedure. I'm not, but they suggested a new option - You Mail In Your Poop!!!

I was totally down for this! I did the deed, mailed it in - doc says I'm good.

For some reason I was really enthralled about my poop traveling around the states.  

Streetwiseguy said:

1988RedT2 said:

How delightfully cheesy are the headlight adjusters on 73-87 GM trucks? 

I notice one of my headlights pointing towards the ground.  I can push it into position, but a springs pushes it back.  Pretty easy to get to--remove bezel with four screws.  Fault lies with the piece of chalky 35-year old plastic.  Good news is I had one go bad a year or two ago and bought a bag of ten of the things and I actually remembered where I put them. 

So I guess this could just as well go in the "Life is good" thread!

But yeah, cheesy plastic part.  Even so, it lasted this long.  Can't complain, really.

That's all, carry on!

I dare you to find a vehicle designed and built in the last 30 years that has a headlight adjuster that works at all, even when new.

I was delighted to find that the adjusters on my then 15 year old S40 not only worked, but were great big knobs you could easily adjust by hand.  Perfect for when you are pushing the limits of the vehicle's capacity... and towing capacity... and tongue weight

Shadeux (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to Ashyukun (Robert) :

I'm 55 and my new doc read into how I've not had one yet (no one's asked me to) that I was reluctant to go through the procedure. I'm not, but they suggested a new option - You Mail In Your Poop!!!

I was totally down for this! I did the deed, mailed it in - doc says I'm good.

For some reason I was really enthralled about my poop traveling around the states.  

Heh. Cologuard, I'm assuming? The Dancer and I get quite a laugh at any time any of those commercials come on- their ad agency did a very good job on them. They recommended my doing it now because of some issues I've had over the last few years and wanting to get a look inside and confirm there wasn't anything more serious at play. Thankfully they didn't find anything at all out of the ordinary and didn't even need to take any biopsies. The Dancer wasn't particularly thrilled with the little packet of all the pictures they took of the inside through when she realized what she was looking at .

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

Streetwiseguy said:

1988RedT2 said:

How delightfully cheesy are the headlight adjusters on 73-87 GM trucks? 

I notice one of my headlights pointing towards the ground.  I can push it into position, but a springs pushes it back.  Pretty easy to get to--remove bezel with four screws.  Fault lies with the piece of chalky 35-year old plastic.  Good news is I had one go bad a year or two ago and bought a bag of ten of the things and I actually remembered where I put them. 

So I guess this could just as well go in the "Life is good" thread!

But yeah, cheesy plastic part.  Even so, it lasted this long.  Can't complain, really.

That's all, carry on!

I dare you to find a vehicle designed and built in the last 30 years that has a headlight adjuster that works at all, even when new.

I was delighted to find that the adjusters on my then 15 year old S40 not only worked, but were great big knobs you could easily adjust by hand.  Perfect for when you are pushing the limits of the vehicle's capacity... and towing capacity... and tongue weight

If only the gm adjusters worked like that.

In reply to Ashyukun (Robert) :

The doctor shoulda told you that you cannot go to work after a procedure.  You may not remember.  The sleeping so long afterward makes me think you had versed and fentanyl.    I had that the first two times and feel really mellow for several hours.  The last 3 used propofol and I feel like I could have gone to work after I woke up.  I missed the lala land feeling.  

spitfirebill said:

In reply to Ashyukun (Robert) :

The doctor shoulda told you that you cannot go to work after a procedure.  You may not remember.  The sleeping so long afterward makes me think you had versed and fentanyl.    I had that the first two times and feel really mellow for several hours.  The last 3 used propofol and I feel like I could have gone to work after I woke up.  I missed the lala land feeling.  

They said no driving, no operating heavy machinery, and no making any legal decisions- I took that last one as a hint that I probably shouldn't be doing airframe stress analysis either (though to be fair, it's also largely impossible to do that when you're asleep too, so...). Yeah, I know Fentanyl was one of the drugs they used- the sheet they gave me had both of them listed but I only remember that one explicitly.