AliceTheOwl Posted July 31, 2006 Report Share Posted July 31, 2006 Re: The cranky thread I'll just keep going to the dealership. It's a smidge more expensive, but they keep excellent records about my car's service history and notes, and I have yet to leave the service department with more problems than when I took the car in. That and they've NEVER sold me anything I didn't need, or even suggested such a thing. I have a Saturn, by the way, so the excellent service is all part of the package. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigdamnhero Posted July 31, 2006 Report Share Posted July 31, 2006 Re: The cranky thread I have a Saturn' date=' by the way, so the excellent service is all part of the package.[/quote'] Be glad you don't live in central Missouri. Besides all the obvious reasons, you wouldn't believe how hard it is to find a mechanic who's even heard of a Saturn, let alone worked on one. (My mom does love her Saturn tho.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliceTheOwl Posted July 31, 2006 Report Share Posted July 31, 2006 Re: The cranky thread Be glad you don't live in central Missouri. Besides all the obvious reasons' date=' you wouldn't believe how hard it is to find a mechanic who's even [i']heard [/i]of a Saturn, let alone worked on one. (My mom does love her Saturn tho.) Really? Never moving there, then. My second car was a Saturn, and they traded it for higher than it was worth AND gave me 0% financing on the one I have now. Plus, I bought a manual as that second car, but had only driven automatic at that point in my life. They sent someone from the dealership to teach me how to drive my car, after my mother's lessons proved useless and frustrating. I drove it to work that afternoon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seanaci Posted August 1, 2006 Report Share Posted August 1, 2006 Re: The cranky thread Really? Never moving there, then. My second car was a Saturn, and they traded it for higher than it was worth AND gave me 0% financing on the one I have now. Plus, I bought a manual as that second car, but had only driven automatic at that point in my life. They sent someone from the dealership to teach me how to drive my car, after my mother's lessons proved useless and frustrating. I drove it to work that afternoon. Yay! Niceness. And uber cool that they sent someone to teach you how to drive it. That had to have felt like a sweet little bonus. My dad taught me how to drive my manual Honda Civic. In about 2 hours, I had it down. Drove home from the parking lot we went to, but killed it pulling into the driveway. Oh well, ya live and learn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mantis Posted August 1, 2006 Report Share Posted August 1, 2006 Re: The cranky thread I went into work, surfed the net for an hour, then decided I wanted to check my personal email (which you can't do from work). So I locked my workstation, walked down to the Uni at the other end of town, logged in to a computer there and read my personal emails. That is where I am posting this from now. Shortly, I will head back to work. I doubt anyone will miss me. This is not how I want things to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted August 1, 2006 Report Share Posted August 1, 2006 Re: The cranky thread How do you want things to be? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archermoo Posted August 1, 2006 Report Share Posted August 1, 2006 Re: The cranky thread I'll just keep going to the dealership. It's a smidge more expensive, but they keep excellent records about my car's service history and notes, and I have yet to leave the service department with more problems than when I took the car in. That and they've NEVER sold me anything I didn't need, or even suggested such a thing. I have a Saturn, by the way, so the excellent service is all part of the package. Yeah, I actually went so far when purchasing my Prius that I actually bought their pre-paid service plan. All normal service for the first 4 years/55,000 miles is covered. It being a Toyota, it is unlikely that anyhing outside of normal service will be needed. Only problems I've had with any of the Toyotas that I've owned were with the 77 celica. I needed to get a transmission part replaced after it had around 100,000 miles on it. That one cost $50 including labor. And I had to have the carb rebuilt after 150,000 miles or so. That one was around $75, but the idiots that did it never got it right. I was considering taking it to a Toyota dealer to get it redone when someone broke all the windows out of it, prompting me to buy the new car that I'd been thinking about getting a bit earlier than I'd planned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost-angel Posted August 1, 2006 Report Share Posted August 1, 2006 Re: The cranky thread Considering there's a Saturn plant in TN, I find it weird that a state as close as MO doesn't have mechanics who can work on them. They've only been on the market for close to 15 years and are basic GM Cars. MO must be full of complete morons. I take my Saturn to a Tires Plus to get the oil change/wheels rotated. They're good at that. Supberly so actually. And are located nicely next to work - I drop off the car when they open and tell them I'll be back in 8 hours. The manager knows and likes me. It's everything else they suck at. They cause more problems trying to fix my car than they fix. And charge twice as much to do it (though I pay like half as much as other places for oil changes). Strikes me as weird but ah well. I've never driven anything but manual. The lack of a third pedal in automatics confuses the hell out of me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archermoo Posted August 1, 2006 Report Share Posted August 1, 2006 Re: The cranky thread I've never driven anything but manual. The lack of a third pedal in automatics confuses the hell out of me. My first car was an automatic, but then I drove a stick for the next 12 years. Took me a while to get used the the automatic in the Highlander, but I did determine that the state of the art advanced quite a bit between the 77 Nova I had and the 2003 Highlander. You want confusing, my current car (2006 Prius) doesn't even have an ignition key. It has a big button labeled "Start". And the "shift lever" is 100% electronic. You push it left and down for Drive, left and up for Reverse, and just left for Neutral. And when you let go, it returns to the right side default position. Oh, and there is a button for park. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archermoo Posted August 1, 2006 Report Share Posted August 1, 2006 Re: The cranky thread I am now spending time trying to figure out when "early next (now this) week is". They are in theory going to make a decision on a job that I have interviewed for early this week. I think the interview went very well, I think I did a good job of getting across my technical competence and in personally connecting with the people that were interviewing me. Now I'm in the position of waiting for them to make the decision. I know there isn't anything I can do, but it is nerve-wracking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mantis Posted August 1, 2006 Report Share Posted August 1, 2006 Re: The cranky thread How do you want things to be?I want to be able to use my skills to contribute to the team effort in a meaningful fashion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zornwil Posted August 1, 2006 Report Share Posted August 1, 2006 Re: The cranky thread What's wrong, how come you can't do that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigdamnhero Posted August 1, 2006 Report Share Posted August 1, 2006 Re: The cranky thread Considering there's a Saturn plant in TN' date=' I find it weird that a state as close as MO doesn't have mechanics who can work on them. [/quote'] [WALLYSHAWN]You'd like to think that, wouldn't you?[/WALLYSHAWN] To be fair, my mom lives way out in the sticks. I'm sure in St. Louis or Jeff City you'd have no problem. But out there in Jed Clampett Country, they don't think much of them thar fureign cars. (Yes, I know Saturn is a US make.) Every car I've ever owned has been a manual. Well, except for a couple "company cars" I've had for past jobs, all of which were automatic. Switching back and forth can get confusing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Posted August 1, 2006 Report Share Posted August 1, 2006 Re: The cranky thread [WALLYSHAWN]You'd like to think that' date=' wouldn't you?[/WALLYSHAWN'] To be fair, my mom lives way out in the sticks. I'm sure in St. Louis or Jeff City you'd have no problem. But out there in Jed Clampett Country, they don't think much of them thar fureign cars. (Yes, I know Saturn is a US make.) Every car I've ever owned has been a manual. Well, except for a couple "company cars" I've had for past jobs, all of which were automatic. Switching back and forth can get confusing. Just where do you live. Here in Cape we've got a Saturn dealership and most mechanics can handle most makes of cars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigdamnhero Posted August 1, 2006 Report Share Posted August 1, 2006 Re: The cranky thread Just where do you live. Here in Cape we've got a Saturn dealership and most mechanics can handle most makes of cars. Actually, I live in Denver, but my mom lives outside of Rolla. Can't remember how far she had to go to find a mechanic that could spell Saturn. (To be fair, my Mom's perception of distance isn't the same as yours & mine, so 20 miles away seems like a journey to Darkest Africa to hear her tell it.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliceTheOwl Posted August 1, 2006 Report Share Posted August 1, 2006 Re: The cranky thread Yay! Niceness. And uber cool that they sent someone to teach you how to drive it. That had to have felt like a sweet little bonus. My dad taught me how to drive my manual Honda Civic. In about 2 hours, I had it down. Drove home from the parking lot we went to, but killed it pulling into the driveway. Oh well, ya live and learn. Heh. Indeed you do. There was a LOT of stalling in the first hour of learning. It didn't help that they guy they sent over was cute. Cute guys looking at me, at that age, was enough to turn me into a blithering idiot. The nicer he was to me, the more nervous I got. So it's a miracle I learned anything at all, really. Yet I did. Yeah' date=' I actually went so far when purchasing my Prius that I actually bought their pre-paid service plan. All normal service for the first 4 years/55,000 miles is covered. It being a Toyota, it is unlikely that anyhing outside of normal service will be needed. Only problems I've had with any of the Toyotas that I've owned were with the 77 celica. I needed to get a transmission part replaced after it had around 100,000 miles on it. That one cost $50 including labor. And I had to have the carb rebuilt after 150,000 miles or so. That one was around $75, but the idiots that did it never got it right. I was considering taking it to a Toyota dealer to get it redone when someone broke all the windows out of it, prompting me to buy the new car that I'd been thinking about getting a bit earlier than I'd planned.[/quote'] Yeah, I picked up the prepaid service for the Saturn, and will probably get a longer service package the next car I buy. It was REALLY nice just being able to make the appointment, drive it in, drive it back out a half an hour later. No fussing about finances, no pondering what ELSE I'd have to put off until next month to afford it, just, "Look, my car hit 9K; time to bring it in." And it got me into the habit of getting regular service, which I was really bad about with the last car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mantis Posted August 2, 2006 Report Share Posted August 2, 2006 Re: The cranky thread What's wrong' date=' how come you can't do that?[/quote']I was hired to do a specific job - test that an upgrade to a software package did not adversely affect a downstream application that takes a data feed from the upgraded software. But I have none of the usual system accesses accorded to a tester - I cannot query the database directly to identify test data, for example, nor can I run batch jobs when I want. Further, no-one knew the scope of my testing before I arrived, but it is truly trivial. Anyone else on the team could have done it in their spare time. It took me only a few days to get prepared - most of which was spent learning about te system - and have been prepared to "test" this system for several weeks now - but due to delays higher up in the chain, I have not received any data. I have asked for other work to tide me over while I wait - but everyone else is working within their capacity. So every day I come in to work, sit amongst strangers on a different floor to the rest of the test team, and wait. That's all. I don't even get regular updates on progress from the upstream test team, which is in another state. I. Just. Wait. And what will happen when my wait is over? I'll log into the upstream system. I'll log into the downstream system. I'll search for the same half-dozen records in both. And if they are (a) all in both systems and ( the data matches, I'll say, "It works!" and that's my job done. Whoop-de-damn-do. How will this help the rest of the test team? it won't. They are all working on the regular quarterly release. I'm working on a project outside this schedule. If they are ready on schedule - and it looks like they will be - it will be nothing to do with me. And if I don't do my testing? I'm already supposed to have done some, but the upstream team didn't produce the file I needed before the deadline, then they signed off the milestone anyway - without me doing anything, and without telling me about it either. That tells me how important my role is. Well, I've spent enough time out of the office and at the Uni again. Better head back towards work so I can go to lunch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted August 2, 2006 Report Share Posted August 2, 2006 Re: The cranky thread So every day I come in to work, sit amongst strangers on a different floor to the rest of the test team, and wait. That's all. I don't even get regular updates on progress from the upstream test team, which is in another state. I. Just. Wait. And what will happen when my wait is over? I'll log into the upstream system. I'll log into the downstream system. I'll search for the same half-dozen records in both. And if they are (a) all in both systems and ( the data matches, I'll say, "It works!" and that's my job done. Whoop-de-damn-do. Sounds to me like you're getting paid hourly to sit and finish your novel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdguy Posted August 2, 2006 Report Share Posted August 2, 2006 Re: The cranky thread A certain coworker is returning to work after a vacation. I'm not looking forward to it at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OddHat Posted August 2, 2006 Report Share Posted August 2, 2006 Re: The cranky thread Sometimes it would be nice if, as adults, we could still reasonably expect to get away with just hitting people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archermoo Posted August 2, 2006 Report Share Posted August 2, 2006 Re: The cranky thread Sometimes it would be nice if' date=' as adults, we could still reasonably expect to get away with just hitting people.[/quote'] Under certain circumstances I'd probably agree with you... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdguy Posted August 2, 2006 Report Share Posted August 2, 2006 Re: The cranky thread It's tempting sometimes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost-angel Posted August 2, 2006 Report Share Posted August 2, 2006 Re: The cranky thread trivial compared to most things ... but Civ4 is driving me bonkers. If it weren't so frustrating I'd be pleasently challenged. Bah. Learning new systems can be a chore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zornwil Posted August 2, 2006 Report Share Posted August 2, 2006 Re: The cranky thread Well, Mantis, good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted August 2, 2006 Report Share Posted August 2, 2006 Re: The cranky thread Well' date=' Mantis, good luck.[/quote'] Yeah, may sweet fortune smile upon thee, Mantis. If I wasn't so close to getting a job shortly I'd think about popping down for a quick holiday to say hi. I'd know you'd have time during the day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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