Daily Chuckle

[Lil Foot]

View attachment 161657

We had a local mom & pop hardware store that employed a fat ornery, middle-aged woman with virtually no people skills at all. (and no hardware skills or knowledge to boot)
I would ask for something like an 8mm x 1.25 bolt 50mm long, and she would ask "What is it for?"
I would tell her "It doesn't matter what it is for, just show me where I can find it".
She would argue long, loud, & doggedly that she HAD to know what it was for in order to help me.
When I would finally relent and tell her "It's for my Kubota tractor" she would tell me "We don't carry Kubota parts."
I could probably give dozens of examples related to most things a hardware store carries- "We don't carry AC parts, Ford parts, RV parts, motorcycle parts, etc., etc., etc..
I finally met with the owner and complained, and he said lots of people had complained like me and she had been reprimanded several times, but she had a history of suing employers for false termination.
So they were scared to get rid of her.
I told him I wouldn't be coming back.
Maybe 6 months later, a neighbor told me she had finally been fired. YEAH!
I began shopping there again.

But guess what happened the next time I went to the local O'Riellys?
Yup, she was working there, with the same lack of skills, intelligence, and personality.
I immediately went to the manager and complained, and said I would not be back as long as she was there.
Took 6 months, but they finally got rid of her, and I shop there again.

I worry a little bit about where she might show up next.

 

[NorthwoodsLife]

Some of these kids they hire at auto parts and hardware stores couldn't change the oil on a 1970 Ford, change a tire, or operate a screwdriver or hammer.

They are robots programmed to find the part in the computer or it doesn't exist.

If I am buying a 1/2" heater hose or a 1/4- 20 bolt and they ask what it is for, I walk away or ask for someone else to help me.

 

[armylifer]

We had a local mom & pop hardware store that employed a fat ornery, middle-aged woman with virtually no people skills at all. (and no hardware skills or knowledge to boot)
I would ask for something like an 8mm x 1.25 bolt 50mm long, and she would ask "What is it for?"
I would tell her "It doesn't matter what it is for, just show me where I can find it".
She would argue long, loud, & doggedly that she HAD to know what it was for in order to help me.
When I would finally relent and tell her "It's for my Kubota tractor" she would tell me "We don't carry Kubota parts."
I could probably give dozens of examples related to most things a hardware store carries- "We don't carry AC parts, Ford parts, RV parts, motorcycle parts, etc., etc., etc..
I finally met with the owner and complained, and he said lots of people had complained like me and she had been reprimanded several times, but she had a history of suing employers for false termination.
So they were scared to get rid of her.
I told him I wouldn't be coming back.
Maybe 6 months later, a neighbor told me she had finally been fired. YEAH!
I began shopping there again.

But guess what happened the next time I went to the local O'Riellys?
Yup, she was working there, with the same lack of skills, intelligence, and personality.
I immediately went to the manager and complained, and said I would not be back as long as she was there.
Took 6 months, but they finally got rid of her, and I shop there again.

I worry a little bit about where she might show up next.

Just hope that she does not show up at the hospital or pharmacy that you use.

 

[85Hokie]

I worry a little bit about where she might show up next.

Got any local political openings that need to be filled?
Ok.....that was a joke..........I hope!

 

[D2Cat]

We had a local mom & pop hardware store that employed a fat ornery, middle-aged woman with virtually no people skills at all. (and no hardware skills or knowledge to boot)
I would ask for something like an 8mm x 1.25 bolt 50mm long, and she would ask "What is it for?"
I would tell her "It doesn't matter what it is for, just show me where I can find it".
She would argue long, loud, & doggedly that she HAD to know what it was for in order to help me.
When I would finally relent and tell her "It's for my Kubota tractor" she would tell me "We don't carry Kubota parts."
I could probably give dozens of examples related to most things a hardware store carries- "We don't carry AC parts, Ford parts, RV parts, motorcycle parts, etc., etc., etc..
I finally met with the owner and complained, and he said lots of people had complained like me and she had been reprimanded several times, but she had a history of suing employers for false termination.
So they were scared to get rid of her.
I told him I wouldn't be coming back.
Maybe 6 months later, a neighbor told me she had finally been fired. YEAH!
I began shopping there again.

But guess what happened the next time I went to the local O'Riellys?
Yup, she was working there, with the same lack of skills, intelligence, and personality.
I immediately went to the manager and complained, and said I would not be back as long as she was there.
Took 6 months, but they finally got rid of her, and I shop there again.

I worry a little bit about where she might show up next.

In these parts those stores are referred to as O-Really!

View attachment 161657

I was thinking about this over the weekend. We all tend to pick on the young guy at the pats counter desk, but here's what happened to me. I have a sore throat one night, then a bit of a cough, then lost my appetite and got lethargic.

Labor Day we were planning to go to a family breakfast, so Sunday my wife brings out a covid test from times past. Tickles my nose, waits a bit and tells me it indicates covid positive. I check the expiration date of the test and it was 1/24. So now she insist on another test. It confirms the first.

It's Sunday and no clinic is open to confirm or get meds. I call the local hospital trying to get some info but they refuse any thing without checking in. I go out there, check in.....now this is to confirm/deny covid. They check my blood pressure, oxygen level, blood sugar, breathing, ask 50 questions about being safe at home, threats, falls, how do I identify......then take a nose swab and leave the room.

An hour and half later I hit the call button. A Dr. comes in (first time seeing him) and immediately tells me I have covid. My experience with covid is use Paxlovid, so I ask the Dr. about it. He doesn't want to give me a prescription saying it cost $1600. He tells me I've had the symptoms for three days and it's too late for that drug be be effective. I remember when the drug first came out the time line was get the meds by the first five days, now it's three day, it's too expensive to bother with

I told the Dr. to send the prescription to the pharmacy and I'd decide the next morning if I would filo it. Only thing open on Labor Day was Walmart Pharmacy and they opened at 10AM. Wife went in to get it. They had none. They called another store 25 miles away, they had none. Called another store same distance and they had 3. Wife went there to get it. Cost $2.

So what's the purpose of this rant? The medical practices in this country is no different then the auto parts. I got tested a few years for covid. I called the local clinic, they told me to call from the parking lot, they'd meet me a the door, go back to office, take swab, all paperwork would be taken care of. That took about 10 minutes total. I was at the ER (because that's the only place available) for two hours to discover i had covid and they had no solution.

When I called to see if I could get a covid test they should have told me it doesn't matter if you do or not, you don't need to do anything for it.

After a two hour weight with no results I'm beginning to take a more relaxed approach toward the lowly parts guy. He doesn't charge a fortune to not give an answer!!

 

[Daren Todd]

Some of these kids they hire at auto parts and hardware stores couldn't change the oil on a 1970 Ford, change a tire, or operate a screwdriver or hammer.

They are robots programmed to find the part in the computer or it doesn't exist.

If I am buying a 1/2" heater hose or a 1/4- 20 bolt and they ask what it is for, I walk away or ask for someone else to help me.

Same thing for starter solenoids, match up this oem fan belt with a will work solution from your shelf, etc.....

I don't care what the solenoid fits. I just need to know which one is the start post.

If I have time to spare, I will really start screwing with the new employee and send them down a rabbit hole by telling them exactly what it's going on, knowing full well that the equipment is definitely not in their system.

 

[dirtydeed]

 

[NCL4701]

Few years ago, my father and I were getting an old on road trailer that had graduated to old off road trailer back to a usable state. The trailer frame was his final project in a college welding class. All it needed was tires and hubs greased, but the wheel studs were hopelessly frozen. After days of a variety of penetrating oils, heat, etc. intentionally twisted one off, knocked the head out, and measured it up to see if we could source them somewhere to just replace them all.

We had a regional NAPA warehouse about 15 minutes from us, so off we went with our busted wheel stud. My father didn’t hear very well so it was my job to deal with the counter folks. Told the pleasant young man at the counter we needed a dozen wheel studs of whatever the measurements were, just like this one here except not rusty or busted. Of course he asked make, model, and year. Pointed at my father and told counter guy he made it so I guess it’s a “his name” make. Asked him what year he made it. He said 1950. Asked him if he still needed the model. He said no, how about the axle make, model, and year. Told him I thought it was a front axle from a Ford truck of some sort. Asked Dad if he remembered the specifics on where the axle came from. He said he got it from a junk yard somewhere in the general vicinity of the NC State Research Farm in Clayton in 1950, obviously a front axle, thought from an International truck but maybe not. It was in a pile of front truck axles so couldn’t really say other than a pre-1950 front beam axle from a medium duty truck.

He looked at us for a minute and finally said, y’all are serious, aren’t you? I told him yes, and showed him a couple pictures of the trailer on my phone. To his credit, he took the stud, left for a bit, and returned about 10 minutes later with two studs that were close. We picked one and he got us 11 more to go with it.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

A neighbour 'modifies' one of the blades of his 1 yer old Cub Cadet rider. I head the 'thunk' 400' away...so knew i'd see it soon... Raise the rider, burp the blade off (15/16 socket), take it to dealer 7 minutes away( Kubota/CC). Parts gal is busy, so service gal tries to help. They know me but this is NOT my machine. OK owner's name ? Mike, last name ? ,I don't know, some weird set of letters as he's Croatian. Can't search by address. Silly computer! Phone number, I don't know, I drive my BX23S there, other side of street, 3 lots south. Point to similar mower on the floor, an XT2 with 46" deck. She types then pulls up a screen.. about 50 different 'sub models'... sigh, all this take TIME, which is what really I want,, finally Sam,the parts gal, gets off the phone, grabs the blade, goes out back, returns with a new blade ! $45 later out the door.....
If I'd scraped the 1/2 inch of concreted mud off the blade I could have seen the blades stamped part number but then that'd been too easy !

 

[dirtydeed]

 

[GeoHorn]

We had a local mom & pop hardware store that employed a fat ornery, middle-aged woman with virtually no people skills at all. (and no hardware skills or knowledge to boot)
I would ask for something like an 8mm x 1.25 bolt 50mm long, and she would ask "What is it for?"
I would tell her "It doesn't matter what it is for, just show me where I can find it".
She would argue long, loud, & doggedly that she HAD to know what it was for in order to help me.
When I would finally relent and tell her "It's for my Kubota tractor" she would tell me "We don't carry Kubota parts."
I could probably give dozens of examples related to most things a hardware store carries- "We don't carry AC parts, Ford parts, RV parts, motorcycle parts, etc., etc., etc..
I finally met with the owner and complained, and he said lots of people had complained like me and she had been reprimanded several times, but she had a history of suing employers for false termination.
So they were scared to get rid of her.
I told him I wouldn't be coming back.
Maybe 6 months later, a neighbor told me she had finally been fired. YEAH!
I began shopping there again.

But guess what happened the next time I went to the local O'Riellys?
Yup, she was working there, with the same lack of skills, intelligence, and personality.
I immediately went to the manager and complained, and said I would not be back as long as she was there.
Took 6 months, but they finally got rid of her, and I shop there again.

I worry a little bit about where she might show up next.

The WORD has finally gotten-around….. Who the local retailers can hire to get rid of You.

 

[Tughill Tom]

 

[Tughill Tom]

 

[Daren Todd]

 

[Bmyers]

 

[Magicman]