[NTLK] [OT] Pros (was Re: Frozen Newton Project Rebirth)

From: Simon Stapleton (simon_at_tufty.co.uk)
Date: Sun Jun 27 2004 - 08:28:51 PDT


> From: "Frank Gruendel" <newtontalk_at_pda-soft.de>
> Subject: Re: [NTLK] Frozen Newton Project Rebirth
>> but just like when i owned my motorcylce i took it to the pros to have
>> them change oil, brake pads and tires. i just feel more comfortable
>> letting someone who has done this before do it rather then take a
>> chance
>> and mess up myself.
>
> Ermmm... I once watched some BMW "pros" trying to remove a coil from
> my motorcycle's generator using a chisel and a hammer. Because they
> weren't
> aware of the trick needed for removing the flywheel, which would have
> allowed them to remove the coil using a plain ol' screwdriver.
> My respect for "pros", especially those in garages, has been slightly
> dented ever after.

Similar to the reason I do my own bike maintenance, I suspect. I sent
a pair of FZR400 brake calipers to a certain well-known bike dealership
in London to have the pistons extracted when my compressor was out of
action, they came back, beautifully wrapped in tissue paper, with plier
marks all over the pistons. Dead. This was the same dealership that
had failed to tighten a rear axle bolt after replacing a tyre, nearly
resulting in my death. It took explicit threats of intervention by the
road rats[1][2] before I managed to get a new set of calipers. Since
then, I've take the approach that if I'm going to be driving fast on a
bike, I'd rather be sure that the parts have been properly maintained.
And that if they haven't it's nobody's fault but my own.[3]

I take the same approach with computers.

Simon

[1] Yes, I have dodgy contacts
[2] The road rats have a rather unwholesome reputation. Mentioning the
names of friends relatively high up in the group to a bike shop is
rather similar to threatening to have the shop, their employees, and
their employees' second cousins, firebombed (at the very least).
[3] Frankly, bike maintenance is not hard. After all, it's designed to
be carried out by bike mechanics, and we know how bright most of them
are.

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