Is May the National Fuckwit Month?

freedom_in_4low said:
general contractors here are out to 9 months or more to build a 2500 sf house. The new excuse of course is COVID. If my house and financial future wasn't in their hands I wouldn't hesitate to tell them no, it's because you can't plan for shit and you wait for the current thing to be complete before you give a single thought to what has to be done next. They should make gantt charts and project planning part of the GC licensure process. Today from what I can tell is you can be a GC if you have enough subcontractors phone numbers to finish a house.

I had a house built in 2012 that was done in 6 months, and I still remember there being multiple periods of 2 weeks where not a single worker set foot on site. I'm just about convinced that if a full days work was completed every weekday, a house this size could be completed in less than 90 days.
Click to expand...
We had guys who would just no show for a week or two at a time. then one day, they would just show up and act confused when the contractor and gc were pissed.

I am glad to be out of that and in science now. out here in CO a mint can be made if you can put together a rockstar crew and get things done.
 
freedom_in_4low said:
general contractors here are out to 9 months or more to build a 2500 sf house. The new excuse of course is COVID. If my house and financial future wasn't in their hands I wouldn't hesitate to tell them no, it's because you can't plan for shit and you wait for the current thing to be complete before you give a single thought to what has to be done next. They should make gantt charts and project planning part of the GC licensure process. Today from what I can tell is you can be a GC if you have enough subcontractors phone numbers to finish a house.

I had a house built in 2012 that was done in 6 months, and I still remember there being multiple periods of 2 weeks where not a single worker set foot on site. I'm just about convinced that if a full days work was completed every weekday, a house this size could be completed in less than 90 days.
Click to expand...
That is EXACTLY my gripe. They didn't even bother looking for a sheetrock sub until AFTER the framing was done - as but one of many examples. No project planning whatsoever. I finally had to chew out the owner's son, which I really hated to do as they really are good people. But if I hadn't, I'd still be waiting. I'm still waiting on the very last thing to happen - the doorknob and deadbolt on the closet door - its been two weeks! I'm not raising hell about it (yet) as it turns out that the Nanny State won't final the project until the paint is done, and as my son in law flaked on me, I'm doing the painting and I'm slow. Gotta get out there right after I eat breakfast and get at it again. Then stop at 1300 for a hair appt.

This was a 157 sq ft addition. Yea, it had a "lot of moving parts", but what happened was ridiculous.
 
Stockli said:
Does anybody except painters like painting?
Click to expand...
I don't think painters like it. It is just one job they can do that reaches out to the very limit of their intelligence and skill level. Nothing else explains the ability to do a mind numbingly boring low challenge activity for 8 hours a day or more. I suspect if they dropped one or two IQ points, they would be better suited for a job like sweeping floors but only with lots of training and a picture only training manual.

Before anyone gets too offended, none of that is even remotely in jest. I have worked with and around car painters, house painters, parking lot stripe painters and the mentality is well described for 99% of them.
Stockli said:
working construction it was the one job I would not do lol.
Click to expand...
I've been forced to a few times in construction doing some TI work, at no point in time was it not just pure torture.
Stockli said:
shit I even climbed into a grease trap to haul out ancient cooking grease traps on a job, but painting…..hell no
Click to expand...
I wouldn't go that far but almost.
 
mrblaine said:
I don't think painters like it. It is just one job they can do that reaches out to the very limit of their intelligence and skill level. Nothing else explains the ability to do a mind numbingly boring low challenge activity for 8 hours a day or more. I suspect if they dropped one or two IQ points, they would be better suited for a job like sweeping floors but only with lots of training and a picture only training manual.

Before anyone gets too offended, none of that is even remotely in jest. I have worked with and around car painters, house painters, parking lot stripe painters and the mentality is well described for 99% of them.

I've been forced to a few times in construction doing some TI work, at no point in time was it not just pure torture.

I wouldn't go that far but almost.
Click to expand...
I bet you have a sign that reads, "GET OFF MY LAWN"
 
mrblaine said:
He said he is never voting for another D again. I just asked why now?
Click to expand...
It’s the recently (Musk) dubbed ‘woke mind virus’ at play, & whatever its prior incarnation was, that causes what appear to be normal, even sometimes intelligent human beings, to not see what’s so plainly obvious to the rest of us. Dems have held this kind of spell over their slice of the electorate for decades, folks they time and time again bang, bang over, and bang again, yet they keep on saying ‘thank you sir, may I have another’. It has taken this Bidonian level buffoonery we’ve all witnessed to finally begin cracking the exterior of some of these folks for the first time in my memory. I believed, until last week anyway, we were headed towards a quantum shift at the poles this coming fall as a result, but with the newly added wild-card of the Roe clusterfuck I’m not so sure, talk about handing a gift to an ideology that was on the ropes right at the buzzer.
mind bottling.gif
 
  • Like
Reactions: Stockli and Apparition
So I needed a wipermotor for my Nissan Frontier, should be no big deal. They have been making that truck for ages.

Well for whatever reason my year truck is different so nobody has one. I swing into the Napa down the street on a Thursday.

They have the wipermotor in Boston they will have it Friday afternoon. I stop in on Saturday no motor. The guy says well"It's only Saturday" I wanted to say hey asshole I was told Friday but I was nice.

He looks it up says it's in Westbrook, Maine. I said well at least it's in the right state. Monday I can pick it up. Nope.

I get it on Tuesday, nobody gives a crap anymore.
 
mxz800 said:
So I needed a wipermotor for my Nissan Frontier, should be no big deal. They have been making that truck for ages.

Well for whatever reason my year truck is different so nobody has one. I swing into the Napa down the street on a Thursday.

They have the wipermotor in Boston they will have it Friday afternoon. I stop in on Saturday no motor. The guy says well"It's only Saturday" I wanted to say hey asshole I was told Friday but I was nice.

He looks it up says it's in Westbrook, Maine. I said well at least it's in the right state. Monday I can pick it up. Nope.

I get it on Tuesday, nobody gives a crap anymore.
Click to expand...
I had a neighbor years back order a rebuilt Datsun motor from the local auto parts store. It was a mess - it apparently got shipped to Salina, Ks, instead of Salinas, Ca! I don't remember the deets now, but it took several weeks to unfarkle itself.
 
mrblaine said:
My late father was an electrician. I'd sooner cut my nuts off and run around wearing dresses than emulate a single aspect of his existence.
Click to expand...
Snort! Maybe that's why I wear skirts and the occasional dress! I draw the line at cutting nuts off though. You crack me up! Laughing out loud here...
 
Westtown Willy said:
It’s the recently (Musk) dubbed ‘woke mind virus’ at play, & whatever its prior incarnation was, that causes what appear to be normal, even sometimes intelligent human beings, to not see what’s so plainly obvious to the rest of us. Dems have held this kind of spell over their slice of the electorate for decades, folks they time and time again bang, bang over, and bang again, yet they keep on saying ‘thank you sir, may I have another’. It has taken this Bidonian level buffoonery we’ve all witnessed to finally begin cracking the exterior of some of these folks for the first time in my memory. I believed, until last week anyway, we were headed towards a quantum shift at the poles this coming fall as a result, but with the newly added wild-card of the Roe clusterfuck I’m not so sure, talk about handing a gift to an ideology that was on the ropes right at the buzzer.
View attachment 329736
Click to expand...
somehow a group of folks out there still believe Biden is doing well

i bet even Jimmy Carter is sitting back and scratching his head at the goings on of late
 
freedom_in_4low said:
general contractors here are out to 9 months or more to build a 2500 sf house. The new excuse of course is COVID. If my house and financial future wasn't in their hands I wouldn't hesitate to tell them no, it's because you can't plan for shit and you wait for the current thing to be complete before you give a single thought to what has to be done next. They should make gantt charts and project planning part of the GC licensure process. Today from what I can tell is you can be a GC if you have enough subcontractors phone numbers to finish a house.

I had a house built in 2012 that was done in 6 months, and I still remember there being multiple periods of 2 weeks where not a single worker set foot on site. I'm just about convinced that if a full days work was completed every weekday, a house this size could be completed in less than 90 days.
Click to expand...
jesus christ that's insane.. we just finished building 36 single family homes ranging from 1500 to 1900 sq ft in 10 months soup to nuts.. grading, utilities, new street, street lights, the whole thing. we have tight deadlines for tax credits though so we go hard.
 
mrblaine said:
I don't think painters like it. It is just one job they can do that reaches out to the very limit of their intelligence and skill level. Nothing else explains the ability to do a mind numbingly boring low challenge activity for 8 hours a day or more. I suspect if they dropped one or two IQ points, they would be better suited for a job like sweeping floors but only with lots of training and a picture only training manual.

Before anyone gets too offended, none of that is even remotely in jest. I have worked with and around car painters, house painters, parking lot stripe painters and the mentality is well described for 99% of them.
Click to expand...
Most painters I've known were drunks, alcoholics go to meetings.
 
  • Like
  • USA Proud
Reactions: Stinkbug and Apparition
This happened yesterday.
I put new front shocks and front calipers and brake hoses on my 2006 LJR in the driveway. Three days. There was fire and much cursing.
I have certainly heard and read about all of the potential issues with the rear, top shock bolts.
I chickened out and called around. Most people recommended shop X. They do a ton of Jeep work - tires, suspension, shocks, lifts, etc.
I call them and they are crazy busy; call back in three or four weeks.
I called back and the man says bring it at noon. $30 / shock. So I did.
I know most mechanics don't like other people, especially owners, watching them work; but I was standing outside the shop, in the driveway. He takes out the bottom shock bolt, no problem. Then he picks up his half-inch, air powered, impact gun with a two foot extension and socket on the end and approaches the bolt.
"Hold on, pardner", I say ('cause that's how you talk in S TX), "have you heard about the problems with those bolts?"
"Ah been doin this for 30 years and ain't never had one break, yet."
(Aside - we don't have snow and ice, and when we do, TX DOT sprinkles ground up sea shells on the roadway to provide friction. They do not promote rust or corrosion.)
"OK, as long as you know what you're doin."
First bolt, whir out it comes.
Second bolt, whir, clank clank clank, snap; busted.
"Well, that changes things. Ah cain't believe that bolt busted like that. Well, somebody's goin to have to drill that out, and prolly re-thread it. We're lookin at about 3 hours work at $125/hour."
"Say what?!?!", I exclaimed. "You told me $30 a shock. I warned you about the bolts breaking and you said not to worry about it. Now that you have broken the bolt you want $375 to fix what you broke. And, you haven't even touched the other side."
"Well, yeah. There'll prolly be a broke bolt on that side, too; so add on another $400 or so."
"So, after quoting me $60 to install both shocks, you are now telling me it's going to be almost $800?"
"Yep, that's about the size of it."
"You know, if you weren't such a fuckwit, I'd call a lawyer and sue your ass for a whole bunch of money and make you finish the job. As is, I wouldn't let you touch my Jeep, ever again."
After reviewing about one third of the five to ten thousand videos on replacing rear shocks on a TJ, I think the best solution is the DLP Rear Shock Upper Bar Pin Eliminator Kit (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07T7MJ969/?tag=wranglerorg-20) . I did find some made in USA, but they were $mucho$ and look the same as these. I know I still have to get the broken bolt remnant out and tackle the other side. Mixing the ATF and acetone now. (Why is Kroil so expensive?) Will let it soak for at least 48 hours until I attempt it, by hand. I have some reverse drill bits to use on the broken bolt. If that doesn't work, its off to Harbor Freight for an air hammer. I think welding and torching next to the fuel tank is just going to piss Murphy off too much, with horrifying results.
As mentioned above, I am in S TX. It was 101 on Sunday and Monday, 100 yesterday, and forecast today is for 95. The humidity has been between 60 and 75%. When it drops to 90, I'll get started.

Question about shock bolts - apply anti-seize so I can get them out next time or thread locker so they don't fall out or don't put anything on them?

Thanks all!
 
  • Wow
Reactions: Apparition
2:40 and this jack wagon still has not show up to complete this job. That makes all three days this week this jerkoff hasn’t shown up before 2:30

the job was to be completed today. Not happy
 
Dr. Internet said:
This happened yesterday.
I put new front shocks and front calipers and brake hoses on my 2006 LJR in the driveway. Three days. There was fire and much cursing.
I have certainly heard and read about all of the potential issues with the rear, top shock bolts.
I chickened out and called around. Most people recommended shop X. They do a ton of Jeep work - tires, suspension, shocks, lifts, etc.
I call them and they are crazy busy; call back in three or four weeks.
I called back and the man says bring it at noon. $30 / shock. So I did.
I know most mechanics don't like other people, especially owners, watching them work; but I was standing outside the shop, in the driveway. He takes out the bottom shock bolt, no problem. Then he picks up his half-inch, air powered, impact gun with a two foot extension and socket on the end and approaches the bolt.
"Hold on, pardner", I say ('cause that's how you talk in S TX), "have you heard about the problems with those bolts?"
"Ah been doin this for 30 years and ain't never had one break, yet."
(Aside - we don't have snow and ice, and when we do, TX DOT sprinkles ground up sea shells on the roadway to provide friction. They do not promote rust or corrosion.)
"OK, as long as you know what you're doin."
First bolt, whir out it comes.
Second bolt, whir, clank clank clank, snap; busted.
"Well, that changes things. Ah cain't believe that bolt busted like that. Well, somebody's goin to have to drill that out, and prolly re-thread it. We're lookin at about 3 hours work at $125/hour."
"Say what?!?!", I exclaimed. "You told me $30 a shock. I warned you about the bolts breaking and you said not to worry about it. Now that you have broken the bolt you want $375 to fix what you broke. And, you haven't even touched the other side."
"Well, yeah. There'll prolly be a broke bolt on that side, too; so add on another $400 or so."
"So, after quoting me $60 to install both shocks, you are now telling me it's going to be almost $800?"
"Yep, that's about the size of it."
"You know, if you weren't such a fuckwit, I'd call a lawyer and sue your ass for a whole bunch of money and make you finish the job. As is, I wouldn't let you touch my Jeep, ever again."
After reviewing about one third of the five to ten thousand videos on replacing rear shocks on a TJ, I think the best solution is the DLP Rear Shock Upper Bar Pin Eliminator Kit (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07T7MJ969/?tag=wranglerorg-20) . I did find some made in USA, but they were $mucho$ and look the same as these. I know I still have to get the broken bolt remnant out and tackle the other side. Mixing the ATF and acetone now. (Why is Kroil so expensive?) Will let it soak for at least 48 hours until I attempt it, by hand. I have some reverse drill bits to use on the broken bolt. If that doesn't work, its off to Harbor Freight for an air hammer. I think welding and torching next to the fuel tank is just going to piss Murphy off too much, with horrifying results.
As mentioned above, I am in S TX. It was 101 on Sunday and Monday, 100 yesterday, and forecast today is for 95. The humidity has been between 60 and 75%. When it drops to 90, I'll get started.

Question about shock bolts - apply anti-seize so I can get them out next time or thread locker so they don't fall out or don't put anything on them?

Thanks all!
Click to expand...

Start spraying the bolts on the other side and keep doing it for a few days, then when you go to remove them, rock them out a little at a time. By that I mean loosen a bit, then if it starts giving resistance, tighten a bit, then loosen again, and do that until they're moving freely. Your boy probably could have got that one out just fine if he'd done that, and I challenge his experiential assertions and that he's never had one break by abusing it with an impact.

As for the one that broke, I had a couple break on an LJ from the rust belt, way back in 2010. I don't actually remember how I got it out but I didn't have an air hammer and I didn't have to buy bar pin eliminators. I may have soaked it in oil and worked it out from above with vice grips, or I may have dremeled the tack weld on the nut until I could knock it off. I remember trying both, I just don't remember which way worked.
 
Top Bottom
Back