Stupid things we do

[Obvious Leo]

Have you tried turning the ignition off and on again?

If I didn't live in such an isolated area I'd turn it off and leave it off forever. Luckily nothing much ever seems to go wrong with modern cars (or maybe I've just got lucky in recent years.)

[Walker]

What do you mean "bob almost fried my computer"

Well, in the pantheon I call HIM, bob. But I know that you will be happy to know that the power surge that momentarily interrupted the spinning hard drive (transmit was in synchronicity with the furnace kicking on) caused no permanent damage, and the flow was re-established by the brilliant diagnostic software installed by the creator of this machine that responds to these calloused fingertips (metaphor, they aren't, but I am loathe to lie), so my brief romance with tapping on a smart phone enjoys a hiatus, though the backup was appreciated. Solid backup is always appreciated.

I should probably break down and spend the cold, hard cash on a surge protector.

[Hobbes' Choice]

Have you tried turning the ignition off and on again?

Strangely enough, these days THAT can help. I had a dodgy sensor on my propshaft, which fed back to the engine module rotational speed info, used to "manage" the engine. Obviously the actual facts of the fault were mot known until I took it, at great expense to BMW, who replaced the part costing them £1, and charging me £110 for the analysis.

Some days it was good, some bad. Having an intermittent fault on a BMW like that is a fucking bitch.
Cars are over engineered, these days. I'd rather loose a few %age points in fuel efficiency and have a car that is more fun to drive, and user responsive. When i want to save fuel, I know how. I don't need an engine to tell me how to behave.

[Skip]

Wal, there ya go!
No such problems with a low-end Hyundai....
... although, these days, even they have stupid features like heated seats and a freeze warning light.

[Hobbes' Choice]

Wal, there ya go!
No such problems with a low-end Hyundai....
... although, these days, even they have stupid features like heated seats and a freeze warning light.

How low, low-end. I bet its got a computer ignition system.

[Skip]

Cheapest possible with cruise control. I have no idea what's in there - not my problem; Tyler's. Nice tow-haired lad with cheeks of tan at the dealership.

[Obvious Leo]

Some days it was good, some bad. Having an intermittent fault on a BMW like that is a fucking bitch.

Intermittent faults are always the worst of all to track down, even for the experts with their fancy diagnostic equipment. However just turning it off AND UNPLUGGING IT AT THE WALL can occasionally do the trick for an intermittent fault in some domestic appliances. This worked for me with a dishwasher which periodically chose its own creative way of going about its tasks. Being something of a techno-moron I assume the control software must be designed to simply reboot itself after a complete power shutdown. It would have cost me hundreds to get a bloke in to fix it and in all likelihood he would have done the same thing as I did.

[Hobbes' Choice]

Some days it was good, some bad. Having an intermittent fault on a BMW like that is a fucking bitch.

Intermittent faults are always the worst of all to track down, even for the experts with their fancy diagnostic equipment. However just turning it off AND UNPLUGGING IT AT THE WALL can occasionally do the trick for an intermittent fault in some domestic appliances. This worked for me with a dishwasher which periodically chose its own creative way of going about its tasks. Being something of a techno-moron I assume the control software must be designed to simply reboot itself after a complete power shutdown. It would have cost me hundreds to get a bloke in to fix it and in all likelihood he would have done the same thing as I did.

I also consider inputs and outputs. My dishwasher has been acting really oddly. It turned out to be a clogged out pipe. In low tech versions you just know when that is happening because the machine either stops dead, or you get a wet floor. Complexity means it keeps trying, and with a partially blocked pipe means the fucking thing runs for hours but gets there in the end.
These days paying another £300 for a new white machine, is often the most economic solution. Having some expert out to 'fix it', tends to get expensive for an ageing machine, and expertise is limited.
I'm getting too old to lump about my washing machine these days, but in the past have saved fortunes by replacing a pump or module myself- its not rocket science.

[Obvious Leo]

I'm getting too old to lump about my washing machine these days, but in the past have saved fortunes by replacing a pump or module myself- its not rocket science.

Washing machines have always been the easiest of all to fix. Nine times out of ten the problem is sticking out like dog's balls the moment you unscrew the back off it. However my current washing machine is now something of an old-tech dinosaur which still chugs happily away, albeit rather noisily. I gather that the newer models are less amenable to such DIY Mr Fixit solutions and that in fact it is often cheaper to chuck it away and buy a new one. Personally I reckon this is fucking appalling and a monstrously ineffective way to manage finite resources but the entire world economy relies on the idea that we should buy shit and then chuck it away as quickly as possible. This makes no sense to me whatsoever but then I've never been all that persuaded by consumerism as a logical economic ideology. As far as I'm concerned most people are just enslaving themselves by spending money they haven't got on crap they don't need so they can impress people they don't like.

[Hobbes' Choice]

I'm getting too old to lump about my washing machine these days, but in the past have saved fortunes by replacing a pump or module myself- its not rocket science.

Washing machines have always been the easiest of all to fix. Nine times out of ten the problem is sticking out like dog's balls the moment you unscrew the back off it. However my current washing machine is now something of an old-tech dinosaur which still chugs happily away, albeit rather noisily. I gather that the newer models are less amenable to such DIY Mr Fixit solutions and that in fact it is often cheaper to chuck it away and buy a new one. Personally I reckon this is fucking appalling and a monstrously ineffective way to manage finite resources but the entire world economy relies on the idea that we should buy shit and then chuck it away as quickly as possible. This makes no sense to me whatsoever but then I've never been all that persuaded by consumerism as a logical economic ideology. As far as I'm concerned most people are just enslaving themselves by spending money they haven't got on crap they don't need so they can impress people they don't like.

I think I've no need to say that I agree how fucking stupid is the low quality, built in obsolescence and irreparability of many new technologies. But one man cannot change the world.

[Obvious Leo]

But one man cannot change the world.

Maybe not. But one man can opt out of being sucked in by it and manage his lifestyle accordingly.

[Hobbes' Choice]

But one man cannot change the world.

Maybe not. But one man can opt out of being sucked in by it and manage his lifestyle accordingly.

I moved to Wales to a smallholding in the late 80s, had my own water supply, electricity, and gas from bottles to run the fridge. We cooked using heat from wood. Did my own car repairs, house repairs. Grew veg, ate our own animals.
Post cancer at 56, with chronic radiogenic fibrositis in the neck makes it difficult to get under the car or move the washing machine. I always hate buying a new one, but have to bow to the economics of it when there is something I can't fix myself.

[Obvious Leo]

It seems we've travelled a similar road, Hobbes, which surprises me not at all. We moved into the bush from the suburbs in 1985 and have lived fairly self-sufficient lives ever since. We've never been isolated from the wider economy but rather just attached to the edge of it. It makes for a very simple and yet diverse lifestyle and although I've travelled extensively it would never occur to me to live elsewhere. At heart I'm just an unreconstructed hippy, I guess.

[Hobbes' Choice]

It seems we've travelled a similar road, Hobbes, which surprises me not at all. We moved into the bush from the suburbs in 1985 and have lived fairly self-sufficient lives ever since. We've never been isolated from the wider economy but rather just attached to the edge of it. It makes for a very simple and yet diverse lifestyle and although I've travelled extensively it would never occur to me to live elsewhere. At heart I'm just an unreconstructed hippy, I guess.

Me too. I did my degree (92-95) in a place called Lampeter, where I supplemented by meagre loan and shrinking grant (yes they still existed in the 1990s), by selling homegrown.

[duszek]

I went on an excursion to a severe prison for men inmates wearing a mini skirt.
Mini skirts are comfortable and I did not think that we might pass through rooms in which the inmates were working or staying. When we did I was embarrassed, tried to hide behind other students and used my summer coat to cover myself a little.