Holiday Comments Section

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FreeFlier
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Re: Holiday Comments Section

Post by FreeFlier »

GlytchMeister wrote:
FreeFlier wrote:
GlytchMeister wrote:Was anyone else reminded of the huge screamfest Polgara had when she found Garion's note when he, Silk, and Belgarath left to kill Torak in... Uh... I can't remember which book it was...
Don't forget that was in stereo, since Ce'Nedra had the same reaction.

"She's stopped breaking the furniture . . . I think she's getting ready to start on people!"
Yeah, but Pol's took the cake. She almost broke the whole damn city... And keep in mind, that city was designed specifically to be really, really hard to break. :P

Ce'Nedra's was good, but Pol's tantrum went to a whole new order of magnitude.
Actually, I remember that Polgara's tantrum was noisy, but the actual breakage was limited to hand-damage level . . . very minor sorceries and lots of thunder.

Though it has been a long time since I read it.


. . . I think Ialin majored in psychiatry and minored in ego deflation . . .

--FreeFlier
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GlytchMeister
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Re: Holiday Comments Section

Post by GlytchMeister »

Yeah, there were multiple lightning strikes within the city... And I think throuought the island.

I like to imagine that one shepherd with the clear voice was very startled by a bolt from the blue frying a nearby tree
He's mister GlytchMeister, he's mister code
He's mister exploiter, he's mister ones and zeros
They call me GlytchMeister, whatever I touch
Starts to glitch in my clutch!
I'm too much!
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jwhouk
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Re: Holiday Comments Section

Post by jwhouk »

It'd likely not take you too long to find an AHI dealer - or at least some TSC that had AHI parts.
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Just Old Al
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Re: Holiday Comments Section

Post by Just Old Al »

FreeFlier wrote: . . . I think Ialin majored in psychiatry and minored in ego deflation . . .

--FreeFlier
Evil pixie. Winged wisearse with odd tastes in footwear.

Actually, she majored in wisdom, and minored in joy. That will get you suckered into ALL SORTS of repair jobs...which is how she ended up with her present thankless task - the dragging back of one grumpy old man from the brink.
"The Empire was founded on cups of tea, mate, and if you think I am going to war without one you are sadly mistaken."
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Just Old Al
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Re: Holiday Comments Section

Post by Just Old Al »

jwhouk wrote:It'd likely not take you too long to find an AHI dealer - or at least some TSC that had AHI parts.
Believe it or not that fix was verbatim one I did on an LR 2.5 Diesel - same reason, too - some moronic previous owner had taken the line clips off the lines and work hardening caused cracks. One of the joys of having a 30-year-old truck for a daily driver.

It's a temporary get-you-moving fix. Al has a cellphone and will be on the lookout for a large AHI dealership near his route - or a good Diesel shop who can fab him a line using the fittings off the old one. Tractor Supply not likely to carry lines for the auxiliary engine off a BIG harvester - that's a dealer part that would be carried as part of a spares kit by a repair mechanic but not on the shelf at a consumer level.

It's not the engine's fault or the installers' (and Al will very carefully NEVER mention this to McAdams or Juan - though he will tell Buck so it can be fed back to the production line for a modification) - this is the type of thing that you get when you stick together two things not originally designed to be stuck together. Been down that rathole a thousand times on updates or conversions of machines to do things they weren't made to do.
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jwhouk
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Re: Holiday Comments Section

Post by jwhouk »

I suspect that you'll find an AHI dealership before you get to Syracuse. Of course, what would be funny is if the dealer was a centaur himself, and knew Buck from college...
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Just Old Al
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Re: Holiday Comments Section

Post by Just Old Al »

jwhouk wrote:I suspect that you'll find an AHI dealership before you get to Syracuse. Of course, what would be funny is if the dealer was a centaur himself, and knew Buck from college...
Yeeeeah....let's not push it. :)
"The Empire was founded on cups of tea, mate, and if you think I am going to war without one you are sadly mistaken."
FreeFlier
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Re: Holiday Comments Section

Post by FreeFlier »

Just Old Al wrote:
jwhouk wrote:I suspect that you'll find an AHI dealership before you get to Syracuse. Of course, what would be funny is if the dealer was a centaur himself, and knew Buck from college...
Yeeeeah....let's not push it. :)
Wouldn't think it that much of a stretch . . . I wouldn't imagine there are that many centuars around.

--FreeFlier
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AmriloJim
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Re: Holiday Comments Section

Post by AmriloJim »

On the subject of "moronic previous owners"...

I recently acquired a very clean-looking '99 Olds Silhouette. The only obvious problem was a lack of power steering. Cause: the pressure line that had been "mended" poorly...
OldsHose.jpg
OldsHose.jpg (33.11 KiB) Viewed 14982 times
For the non-mechanics:
1) Hose clamps cannot withstand the pressure of the hydraulic fluid being sent to the rack and pinion assembly.
2) This was clamped over a non-flared steel hose. Straight walled line has nothing for the clamps to grab.
3) The "hose clamp" nearest the end is actually a battery post connector.

When I went to the parts house for a replacement, the assembly specified for the vehicle was about 18"/0.5m longer than needed. However, the hose for a '98 Silhouette was close to the correct length.

While we were replacing the hose and the pump (a precaution, as running dry had most likely taken it out as well), we discovered two vacuum lines that were open with no apparent destination. Now that I've driven the car a bit, I find the gas gauge is not working, the 'low coolant' light and the message center lie, the cruise control does not work, and the radio loses both primary and memory power at odd intervals.

Coupled with nice, clear headlamp assemblies that were incorrectly seated and the shattered remains of halogen bulbs still inside the fog lamp lens assemblies, I suspect the vehicle had been in a front-end collision, and a '98 engine was installed, which would account for the long '99 hose getting cut down to length and "mended". At least they found a front clip of the same color as the body. Having already suffered through numerous '98-to-'99 model year differences on Fords, I see GM did the same.
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Just Old Al
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Re: Holiday Comments Section

Post by Just Old Al »

Ah, yes....bodge artists.

There is a big difference between a temporary fix and a bodge.. :)

Reminds me of a truck I brought into the contry once. Had "auxiliary" wiring for heavy current items done with speaker wire, and the connections to the battery were washers with the wire threaded through the hole and twisted, and stacked on the battery clamp screw. And let's not mention the fiberglass-and corrugated-cardboard roof.

I was unimpressed.
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Dave
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Re: Holiday Comments Section

Post by Dave »

Just Old Al wrote:Ah, yes....bodge artists.

There is a big difference between a temporary fix and a bodge.. :)
Indeed.

With a temporary fix, you make a prayer of apology to the car for the indignity, and a plea that it won't reject the transplant until you've had time to get to the dealership (or workshop) for a proper replacement.

With a bodge, you make a prayer to the gods to render your vehicle so blind and stupid that it will never realize that you've slung a dead albatross around its neck, and intend for it to spend the rest of its life smelling of rotting albatross.

Yes, both involve prayer. No, the attitude is not the same. ;)
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Just Old Al
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Re: Holiday Comments Section

Post by Just Old Al »

And in the latter case the vehicle will no doubt if it has any soul at all plot revenge. No, I am not joking. They do not forgive, they do not forget...and they WILL get you.

However, even with the indignity of a field expedient repair a vehicle with any soul at all will haul your arse home.

Some vehicles however are just plain NUTS. I had an 84 Range Rover (ex-Saudi) that after I rebuilt it quickly got named Hellspawn. It tried to kill me at least 4 times before I sold it. Even a mage would have thrown up his hands on that one.
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chicgeek
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Re: Holiday Comments Section

Post by chicgeek »

I'd forgotten Polgara's tantrum. I really need to reread those one of these days.
And I loved Al's glee at the repair.
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Dave
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Re: Holiday Comments Section

Post by Dave »

Just Old Al wrote:Some vehicles however are just plain NUTS. I had an 84 Range Rover (ex-Saudi) that after I rebuilt it quickly got named Hellspawn. It tried to kill me at least 4 times before I sold it. Even a mage would have thrown up his hands on that one.
I wonder if they're rather like animals. It someone abuses a dog while it's growing up, it will end up being aggressive and/or psychotic, and will never be safe to be around. Dogs raised and trained for pit-fighting... from what I've heard, even the animal rescue groups usually conclude that there's no way to rehabilitate them well enough to allow them to be adopted.

Combat vehicles... well, they might be too set in Rambo ways for even a mage and a half-ton of good white sage to clear.
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Just Old Al
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Re: Holiday Comments Section

Post by Just Old Al »

Re: animals:

Distinctly possible - which makes me wonder what that poor RR went through before I ended up with it. I do know the previous owner was an interesting individual, so who knows.

TBH most of the ex-mil vehicles I've run across were well-behaved. They've tended to give till they break rather than failing incrementally, rather like a warhorse.
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Sgt. Howard
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Re: Holiday Comments Section

Post by Sgt. Howard »

Just Old Al wrote:Ah, yes....bodge artists.

There is a big difference between a temporary fix and a bodge.. :)
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FreeFlier
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Re: Holiday Comments Section

Post by FreeFlier »

Two notable bodges I've encountered:

The Ozone Kid's infamous 7-cylinder-special: he threw a rod out in the back of beyond and didn't feel like walking out, so he dropped the pan, removed the broken bits, clamped the bearing shell around the crank throw with a hose clamp, then whittled a piece of dead tree to fit snugly in the cylinder . . . refill the water jacket, pour water into the spark plug hole, slack the rockers off until the valves didn't open, and wait for the water to swell the wood tightly into place while putting the pan back on . . . fill the oil and it ran, lumpily.

He drove it that way for months until he could afford to build a new engine.


A 1973 Kenworth wired entirely with plain white #10 wire . . . if they needed a #8, they ran two #10s instead. And then they loomed the harness. Dad wound up putting tracers on the wires with felt markers.


--FreeFlier
chicgeek
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Re: Holiday Comments Section

Post by chicgeek »

"Six days on the road and I'm a gonna make it home tonight"
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jwhouk
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Re: Holiday Comments Section

Post by jwhouk »

Home was eight hours away – admittedly through Wisconsin, but you can’t have everything.
ISWYDT.

I probably deserved that.

;)
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Just Old Al
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Re: Holiday Comments Section

Post by Just Old Al »

You insisted on a shout-out to Wisconsin... :)
"The Empire was founded on cups of tea, mate, and if you think I am going to war without one you are sadly mistaken."
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