As we approach another Ludicrous Lowes Deadline™ and I'm sitting through more and more AI training, I absolutely marvel at the design decisions made by major corporations.
Customers: Stop routing us to bots! We want to talk to actual people!
Trainers/Best Practice Gurus: It's critically important to have a human in the loop for important, high-value decisions.
NobodysHome: So wow. Looking at how you implement these, it would be dirt simple to set up a rule, "If the order was over $100, have an $8/hour phone rep contact the customer and verify the cancellation." That lets you avoid low-value interactions while still having humans where their presence is worth it.
Lowes: Nope.
Oh, well.
EDIT: Apparently they stole the shirt off my back while I wasn't looking.
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The AI has no clothes.
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Me: the block is set a half inch low, I'll fix it quick!
Don (the other Foreman): I'm sure it's close enough, I'll make sure it doesn't have to be exact (looks at the plans and comes back a minute later)
Me: Too late I already reset it!
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Me: the block is set a half inch low, I'll fix it quick!
Don (the other Foreman): I'm sure it's close enough, I'll make sure it doesn't have to be exact (looks at the plans and comes back a minute later)
Me: Too late I already reset it!
You are the contractor I would praise and recommend to friends for years to come.
Don is the contractor I'd never do business with again.
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Politically, I'm anti-deregulation. Won't get into discussions on it, but reviewing our latest documentation is such a little microcosm of the many issues that I find it hilarious.
Previous rule: Documentation may not contain screenshots.
Writers: You're handcuffing us! It's ridiculous to not be able to use any screenshots at all!
New rule: Screenshots may be used sparingly if you feel they are absolutely necessary to convey the concept.
Yeah. Quite literally our 2-page documents have exploded to 50-60 pages. You might ask, "How? Do they put a screenshot in for every single step?"
No. Two or three screenshots for every single step.
In an ideal world where people were capable of practicing moderation, guidelines would be enough. "Don't let your food product get contaminated. Don't produce unsafe vehicles. Don't put too many screenshots into your documentation."
Instead we get the real world where people seem utterly incapable of such mental feats.
Well, tomorrow's visit to the mechanic should be... interesting...
GothBard and Impus Major have been very hesitant to drive the Prius. I didn't have any issue with it when I drove it on Tuesday. Today I drove it to pick up dinner, stopped for some pedestrians, and it wouldn't start moving again. Had to give it a ton of gas to get it up to 1-2 mph, then it slowly started catching on, but it took a good 5 seconds to actually get moving again.
That seems a lot worse than just a simple exhaust manifold leak.
Well, tomorrow's visit to the mechanic should be... interesting...
GothBard and Impus Major have been very hesitant to drive the Prius. I didn't have any issue with it when I drove it on Tuesday. Today I drove it to pick up dinner, stopped for some pedestrians, and it wouldn't start moving again. Had to give it a ton of gas to get it up to 1-2 mph, then it slowly started catching on, but it took a good 5 seconds to actually get moving again.
That seems a lot worse than just a simple exhaust manifold leak.
well.
F!*@.
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"meat" and "mouthfeel"
I believe I've been summoned.
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Well, tomorrow's visit to the mechanic should be... interesting...
GothBard and Impus Major have been very hesitant to drive the Prius. I didn't have any issue with it when I drove it on Tuesday. Today I drove it to pick up dinner, stopped for some pedestrians, and it wouldn't start moving again. Had to give it a ton of gas to get it up to 1-2 mph, then it slowly started catching on, but it took a good 5 seconds to actually get moving again.
That seems a lot worse than just a simple exhaust manifold leak.
That could be a lot of things. Injectors, mass air flow sensor, throttle body, air intakes covered in shrinkwrap... don't ask about that last one...
But that's just the gas engine side. Could be something wrong on the hybrid system that's causing the gas engine issues. Hope not, and I don't think it's likely to be the case, but after 20 years I wouldn't automatically discount the possibility.
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Sorry, Freehold, but according to the headline of the clickbait article I just saw, you are no longer NYC's cutest resident. Apparently some woodcocks (ha, nice) have taken up residence in one of the parks, and they have one-upped you. Maybe you'll retake the crown if they leave.
I can lend you a ladder.
Ya'll got gremlins in your flux campaciter, which makes yer flywheel go all catterwampus. Gonna cost about elebenty tousand dollaridoos.Well, tomorrow's visit to the mechanic should be... interesting...
GothBard and Impus Major have been very hesitant to drive the Prius. I didn't have any issue with it when I drove it on Tuesday. Today I drove it to pick up dinner, stopped for some pedestrians, and it wouldn't start moving again. Had to give it a ton of gas to get it up to 1-2 mph, then it slowly started catching on, but it took a good 5 seconds to actually get moving again.
That seems a lot worse than just a simple exhaust manifold leak.
I *KNEW* it!!!
Well, tomorrow's visit to the mechanic should be... interesting...
GothBard and Impus Major have been very hesitant to drive the Prius. I didn't have any issue with it when I drove it on Tuesday. Today I drove it to pick up dinner, stopped for some pedestrians, and it wouldn't start moving again. Had to give it a ton of gas to get it up to 1-2 mph, then it slowly started catching on, but it took a good 5 seconds to actually get moving again.
That seems a lot worse than just a simple exhaust manifold leak.
well.
F#!!.
Well, as I was telling a friend, we're not like most families. I'm already moving around money to buy a Honda Civic hybrid with cash. Fun fact: The Prius was $26k in 2006. The Civic is $27k in 2026. Yes, that money is entirely from my mother's inheritance, but still, most people don't have that kind of money lying around, and we could have bought it later this summer when my annual options cash out in any case.
So the thought right now is that if it's a "simple" fix (in California that's under $2,000), we'll get the car fixed up and likely sell it to Talky McTalkTalk for $1, DMV fees, and a $5 Peet's gift card, then buy a Civic. If it's something like a blown gasket we'll just dump it in the Honda dealer's lap and say, "Your problem."
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And I'm nothing like most people when it comes to cars. A car is for getting you from point A to point B. Once it becomes incapable of that feat, it's time to get rid of it. I really don't understand people like my neighbor (not one but TWO non-functional BMWs in front of his house that he'll "eventually find the parts for") or Celica guy (a 1996 Celica just like mine in storage in the shop for 5 years waiting for parts).
I fixed the Celica when it got hit because the engine is still in incredible shape and should run for another 20-30 years. Once its engine goes, it goes. Until then, I take good care of it.
Well, tomorrow's visit to the mechanic should be... interesting...
GothBard and Impus Major have been very hesitant to drive the Prius. I didn't have any issue with it when I drove it on Tuesday. Today I drove it to pick up dinner, stopped for some pedestrians, and it wouldn't start moving again. Had to give it a ton of gas to get it up to 1-2 mph, then it slowly started catching on, but it took a good 5 seconds to actually get moving again.
That seems a lot worse than just a simple exhaust manifold leak.
That could be a lot of things. Injectors, mass air flow sensor, throttle body, air intakes covered in shrinkwrap... don't ask about that last one...
But that's just the gas engine side. Could be something wrong on the hybrid system that's causing the gas engine issues. Hope not, and I don't think it's likely to be the case, but after 20 years I wouldn't automatically discount the possibility.
It's almost certainly not the hybrid side. I can idle the engine or roll downhill and start charging the hybrid battery. Once the hybrid battery has power, the car runs great. It's only once the hybrid battery is drained that the car is hosed.
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Sorry, Freehold, but according to the headline of the clickbait article I just saw, you are no longer NYC's cutest resident. Apparently some woodcocks (ha, nice) have taken up residence in one of the parks, and they have one-upped you. Maybe you'll retake the crown if they leave.
Damn those woody cocks!
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Sorry, Freehold, but according to the headline of the clickbait article I just saw, you are no longer NYC's cutest resident. Apparently some woodcocks (ha, nice) have taken up residence in one of the parks, and they have one-upped you. Maybe you'll retake the crown if they leave.I can lend you a ladder.
Thank you, this will aid in my absconding abilities.
I can idle the engine or roll downhill and start charging the hybrid battery. Once the hybrid battery has power, the car runs great.
Anyone in the family that can push cars or does being in san fran mean never not having a hill to shoot down ?
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Me: the block is set a half inch low, I'll fix it quick!
Don (the other Foreman): I'm sure it's close enough, I'll make sure it doesn't have to be exact (looks at the plans and comes back a minute later)
Me: Too late I already reset it!You are the contractor I would praise and recommend to friends for years to come.
Don is the contractor I'd never do business with again.
I cut a block a tenth of an inch too thin so Crookshanks immediately started marking another one and Don walked by and said "that's good enough, it's within an eighth of an inch! Crookshanks just looked at him and said "you don't know my dad!" And then I walked over with the next cut saw the one was a tenth of an inch off and said "I'll recut that one!" And Crookshanks pointed at Don and said all victorious "See, I told you so!".
So, the Prius has a blown water pump and a worn-out drive belt. I am skeptical that this is enough to explain the horrific loss in power, but Google says the engine computer will reduce engine power to reduce overheating. Still don't believe it because my incident driving to the restaurant was after all of 3 blocks of driving; hardly enough to overheat the engine.
So, they're playing around and trying to make absolutely sure that's all that's wrong before charging me close to $1000 to replace the pump and belt, and in the meantime all the financial transfers are in the works so we're likely to order a new car on Saturday. We'll see how THAT experience goes...
Water pump is always a bad thing to need a new one of. I'm sorry.
Water pump is always a bad thing to need a new one of. I'm sorry.
Well, from the video the mechanic sent me, it's easily-accessible in the Prius so I'm expecting it to be a pretty cheap (for California) repair job; likely under $1000... if they can find the part.
My concern is that I called at 10:00 this morning and the rep said he'd check everything and get me a quote and it's now 1:30 and I haven't heard back.
On the bright side, "Hope for the best, plan for the worst." I have my mother-in-law's car for the entire weekend for exactly such an event.
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I can idle the engine or roll downhill and start charging the hybrid battery. Once the hybrid battery has power, the car runs great.Anyone in the family that can push cars or does being in san fran mean never not having a hill to shoot down ?
We always have hills available, we just don't happen to live at the top of one. And somehow the family's FAR less enthusiastic about pushing the car 1500' uphill to get it running every day than you'd think...
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OMG. An obsessive-compulsive's worst nightmare: Lack of maintenance was the primary culprit!
Cars are supposed to get 5k-15k-30k-60k service. Prices rise astronomically at every level. I think around here it's $250/$1000/$1500/$2500. So, surprise surprise, I do oil changes and the 30,000-mile services because that hits *almost* everything.
Oops. If you don't drive much, not the air intake filter. We're at about 24,000 miles since the last major service, but well over 2 years. And the filter hasn't been changed since then. And the car lives under a dying camphor tree that drips powdered sap onto/into it 24/7.
So yeah, the water pump/drive belt were the big, "Hey, take a more careful look at the engine!" red flag.
But the mechanic took one look at the filthy state of the air intake and I got a lot of "tut tutting" and, "I can tell you right now why your engine wasn't getting any power."
So, it'll all be fine, all under $2,000 total, and the mechanic was irritated with my maligning of the engine so he did a thorough inspection of the whole thing and said pretty much, "No, your engine is fine. It's your maintenance that's the problem."
Consider me told off.
We always have hills available, we just don't happen to live at the top of one. And somehow the family's FAR less enthusiastic about pushing the car 1500' uphill to get it running every day than you'd think...
People pay good money for that kind of leg workout!
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We always have hills available, we just don't happen to live at the top of one. And somehow the family's FAR less enthusiastic about pushing the car 1500' uphill to get it running every day than you'd think...I can idle the engine or roll downhill and start charging the hybrid battery. Once the hybrid battery has power, the car runs great.Anyone in the family that can push cars or does being in san fran mean never not having a hill to shoot down ?
Slackers.
Water pump, in and of itself, usually isn't a big deal to replace (notable exceptions tend to be extremely German, specifically BMW and Audi). Finding a pump for any 20-yr-old car is always going to be the bigger problem.
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Yup, on an older American car, the water pump was one of the easiest things.
Speaking of cars: I just got a DeLorean. I’ll be driving it from time to time.
We always have hills available, we just don't happen to live at the top of one. And somehow the family's FAR less enthusiastic about pushing the car 1500' uphill to get it running every day than you'd think...I can idle the engine or roll downhill and start charging the hybrid battery. Once the hybrid battery has power, the car runs great.Anyone in the family that can push cars or does being in san fran mean never not having a hill to shoot down ?
We weren't keen on pushing dad's Maluch on an almost flat surface 20 meters to have it start. We aren't pushing even larger car so far uphill...
Imps UNITE!
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We always have hills available, we just don't happen to live at the top of one. And somehow the family's FAR less enthusiastic about pushing the car 1500' uphill to get it running every day than you'd think...People pay good money for that kind of leg workout!
Pushing a ton and a half 1500 feet uphill? I am not doing that even if they would be paying me...
What kind of money are we talking about exactly?
So, due to many unforeseen circumstances occurring simultaneously at the house today, I was forced to attempt to get food delivered for the first time in many months. (Looks like we did China Village once in June of 2025, then summer of 2024 was the last time we did it regularly.)
(1) Was the order prompt? Yes. Maybe 25 minutes from order to delivery.
(2) Was the order correct? Nope. They got my dinner wrong. Which is even funnier because my last known 2024 delivery was from the same restaurant (Troy) for the same people (me and Impus Minor) and the note from then is, "Dinner for me and Impus Minor AND THEY F**KED UP".
(3) Was the markup exorbitant? Yep. $13.83 on a $61.14 order, or a 22.6% surcharge for the "convenience" of getting the wrong order delivered to my home.
I simply don't understand how delivery companies stay in business. I doubt my once-a-year "emergency" situations would add up, even if every single family in the area did it. (8 million people ~ 4 million families x $14 = $56 million a year to provide delivery services to the entire Bay Area. Nope. That economic model doesn't compute.)
Sorry, Freehold, but according to the headline of the clickbait article I just saw, you are no longer NYC's cutest resident. Apparently some woodcocks (ha, nice) have taken up residence in one of the parks, and they have one-upped you. Maybe you'll retake the crown if they leave.Damn those woody cocks!
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Speaking of hospitality, I am rather incensed.
Impus Major: Hey, Dad! Eddie Haskell is up for the weekend and he can't stay at his parents' so can he stay here on Friday night?
NobodysHome: I suppose so. But you're going to be at a concert so make sure he has a way to get in.
IM: Oh, I'm sure he's going to be here at a reasonable hour.
NH No sign of Eddie and I'm going to bed.
NH: It's 11:50 pm! Eddie still isn't here! What's going on?
IM: Now he says he'll be here at 2:00 am. Impus Minor says he's willing to stay up for him.
NH: You realize that isn't acceptable, right?
IM: Yeah...
So this so-and-so asked to stay at our place, confirmed to the point that I set out bedding, re-confirmed so that Impus Minor stayed up until 2:50 am waiting for him to show, and then flaked.
I am very strongly recommending to Impus Major that he has lost his living room privileges permanently. We'll see how this plays out.
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It should come as no surprise to anyone on FaWtL that I loathe car dealerships, and haggling in general. Just tell me what you actually want for the item and I'll decide whether or not I want to pay that price. If I start walking away and you suddenly decide to make it cheaper, I now consider you dishonest and don't want to do business with you anyway.
What's amazing to me is how this attitude manages to make salespeople cost themselves thousands of dollars in commission. When we bought the Celica I was ready to write a check for the sticker price. The sales guy did all the standard pressure tactics ("Let me talk to my manager about that," and disappearing for half an hour, showing us a video telling us that the Celica was the #1 most-stolen car in the country and trying to sell us an anti-theft system, etc.), and by the time he was done he'd managed to knock $3,000 off the price. Yes. Seriously. I was ready to pay $23,000. I never once asked for the price to be lower. And by the time the guy was done dealing with himself I wrote a check for $19,800.
The same thing happened with the Prius. It was in huge demand so we went in prepared to pay full retail price. Yet again we got the whole, "Sit there while I talk to my manager," and, "Let me run a credit check on you," when we were paying cash. Yet again we paid around $2,000 less than we were expecting to. Utterly baffling.
In both cases I was far more angry about the stupidity of the system and the vast waste of time the game cost me than I was happy about paying less than expected.
So, before Shiro moved away he bought a Honda hybrid. The first two dealerships he went to were so sleazy he walked away from both. (At one he agreed to a final price and they handed him the contract and it had been marked up $5,000 over what he'd agreed to, and apparently the sales guy simply expected him not to notice.) He finally went to our local Honda dealership, we came with him for fun, and for the first time in either of our experiences we got a female salesperson.
While I don't know whether it was specifically her gender that made the difference, holy crap. She simply listened to what he wanted: to pay MSRP plus taxes and nothing more. She wrote up a contract exactly to his terms with absolutely no nonsense, no games, no talking to the manager, just, "I can do that," and 5 minutes later he had his contract. Then while they were talking another sales guy sold the car out from under her because he could get someone who was financing instead of paying cash, so more money for the dealership.
Surprise, surprise, the financing fell through, and she took the trouble of re-reserving the car, calling Shiro, and making sure he got the car on the exact terms of his original deal.
So yeah, ALL of us took her business card and decided we were never going to buy a car from anyone else ever again as long as she was employed.
And of course now that we need a Honda the dealership got bought out and she got laid off. Because being an honest salesperson isn't acceptable in the car business.
But we're going to the dealership to check out the various options (Accord sedan, Civic sedan, Civic coupe) so that we can then custom-build our car using Costco auto sales. We have no intention of buying, and we'll be very clear about that on the lot.
It'll be interesting to see whether they'll take, "No," for an answer, and just how stupid they'll get while we're there.
I hate the entire car sales industry with a passion.
I am not saying we await the story of the incoming purchase with anticipation...
But we are.
Im waiting for "WOW! What an amazing experience buying a car!" myself...
Im waiting for "WOW! What an amazing experience buying a car!" myself...
Nope. Pretty much the standard, "What can I do to make you buy a car today?" experience, but he tried to be more polite and laid-back about it because California.
So he wanted me to commit to buying a car ASAP, he was mid-level pressure, but then we found out Talky doesn't have a driver's license yet so we're a month away from getting rid of the Prius.
I texted the guy a very nice message that we wouldn't be ready for a month. I'm sure he's used to it.
EDIT: In other words, it was mildly annoying, but because I knew I wasn't going to commit to anything today anyway, it was easy enough to walk away. THEN we learned that Talky doesn't have a driver's license yet, so surprising him with a car wasn't our best-thought-out idea ever.
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Made chicken pie for dinner, and made the mistake of eating it while Sneaker (possibly the loooongest cat in the world, and possibly also the one most likely to be driven out of his furry mind by the presence of cooked fowl) was in the room.
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Huuungry eyes,
I'm staring hard at that chicken pie....
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Im waiting for "WOW! What an amazing experience buying a car!" myself...Nope. Pretty much the standard, "What can I do to make you buy a car today?" experience, but he tried to be more polite and laid-back about it because California.
So he wanted me to commit to buying a car ASAP, he was mid-level pressure, but then we found out Talky doesn't have a driver's license yet so we're a month away from getting rid of the Prius.
I texted the guy a very nice message that we wouldn't be ready for a month. I'm sure he's used to it.
EDIT: In other words, it was mildly annoying, but because I knew I wasn't going to commit to anything today anyway, it was easy enough to walk away. THEN we learned that Talky doesn't have a driver's license yet, so surprising him with a car wasn't our best-thought-out idea ever.
But Dearest Father, I have a drivers license! And I can go the supermarket to pick up all manner of dry goods to give you extra time to recharge your flagging energy stores AND motivate neighborhood mothers by lounging shirtless upon the front porch, reflecting Apollo's gift of light upon passersby as it listens off your doubtless perfectly sculpted chest even as one of my brothers fans you with a two-handed palm frond!
Well, a few hours after the fact I realized that I gave the sales guy an obvious "tell" that made him back off a bit: Not once looking at any of the cars he showed us did I look at the price sticker. Never.
So either:
(1) I was so unserious about buying the car that I didn't care about the price, or
(2) I was so rich I didn't care what the car would cost and I was going to choose whatever d**ned car I wanted.
No idea which he pegged me for, but I suspect he'd written me off before we even exchanged information at his desk. (He got my name and phone number and nothing else, which probably was another clue to him to leave me the h*** alone.)
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Well, internet is out at the house again, and not a clue why this time. But, satellite is still working, and the Paramount channel has had a marathon of Lord of the Rings playing all day, so I've had it playing in the background while I work on minis. Knocked out over a dozen minis, and have about an hour of Return of the King left to watch. Not a bad day.
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Speaking of cars: I just got a DeLorean. I’ll be driving it from time to time.