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It is interesting to watch China evolve. Lots of potential, but also a very delicate balancing act, which could tumble with terrible blood loss. As it stands now, it is a bit of a mirage or house of cards.
I wonder how much brain drain takes place today, to areas born or kept stable and safe by our expensive military-industrial machine. We are our own enemy at times.
FWIW, I used that example because in the past I PAID to have that very job done. It didn't last, but did last outside of wty. The next one, I did MYSELF. Took me 7 hours (I don't have anywhere near the tools, including a lift, at my disposal, that the shops have) but lasted till I sold the car 8 years later and is probably still not leaking because I invested a lot of time with the details.
I thought I had gone to a lot trouble to portray my point. Still...it looks like I failed..at least for some..
This same thing happens in Cda. Especially in the medical field. My tax dollars educate them...then they go to.....the USA (or back to Asia) to realize their profession.
You're welcome.
Tis but a flesh wound, fight on nave.....
"i have a 2003 ford expedition that will sometimes not shut off when the keys is turned off i have to slam the driver door & then before it will start again u have to repeat openeing & shutting the driver door, when this happens you can hear a clicking under the dash."
My only conclusion is that the slamming of the door is merely setting up some kind of vibration in the ignition switch wiring /????
China has 2 major issues its going to have to deal with in a big way...
1- Significant pollution and the health issues created by them, which also relates to the next item, which is...
2- The repercussions caused by its "1 child" policy. For the current younger generation, there is 50 million more males than females. Add to that anomaly the Chinese custom that children take care of their parents, and you now have basically 1 wage earner taking care of 2 aging adults (4 if married), whereas in the past that responsibility was spread across several children.
So, it seems we aren't the only country that devises and implements half-baked ideas only to find out we missed a lot in understanding the problem in the first place.
Gonna be interesting, that's for sure...
When my father came here from Norway at age 16, he HAD to learn English quickly and he did! He wanted to be a part of the "melting pot" and become an AMERICAN.
I'm afraid we have lost much of this concept.
One test would be to pound on the dash to see if that lets it start. Where's the big hammer? (not the one that fell on the other guy's toe).
If anything, it just adds to the mutually assured destruction we have made with our "partner".
And I agree with isell's latest point about demographics - we live in the same are and see similar things, and it aint pretty. At least mechanics will have to know passable English, anyway.
Some background, apparently, on day 2 of ownership, the engine started smoking into the cabin as he was going down the freeway, and they replaced the engine and CVT transmission in the brand new vehicle. It has been problem free for the last 60K+ miles though, but recently it did need a new CAT converter, a $1,400 dollar repair, but fortunately for him that was recently covered under the long emissions warranty (he bought it in CA).
More recently, he took it to a recommended independent shop because a noise that had been going on for some time around 30 MPH had been getting louder/worse. They diagnosed it clearly on the paperwork as the AC needing replacement and that the compressor was going bad.
$1,400 later he has a great tip top working AC, but the noise is still there. The shop says "OOPS, you need to go to a transmission shop, we don't do transmissions," after the fact. No mention is made on the estimate of a bad transmission.
I think he has the shop by the balls, and could argue that he owes them nothing since they didn't get rid of any noise being the original reason he took it to them. They misdiagnosed in my opinion because the paperwork clearly says the AC is causing the noise according to their tech.
However, in the interest of fairness, I told him that it would be fair if they returned maybe 20% since his AC probably was starting to go bad, and he did notice it was now "tip top." I said perhaps the shop made an "honest" error. He suggested they do a free 30K maintenance on their other vehicle, and I thought that was a fair proposal. He said initially the shop felt they did nothing wrong, and that they got defensive when he used the words "misdiagnosed." I told him to tell them he relied upon their estimate to get the car fixed and get the noise taken care of. Now he might need to spend 2X more if he needs a rebuilt CVT.
Turns out he might luck out as Nissan apparently extended the warranty on the CVT's to 10 years or 120K miles.
Oh well the money's gotta come from somewhere, its just part of the cost of doing business now. Looks like shifty's bill will be a little higher since you couldn't take care of yourself and had to make someone else responsible for you.
With the fuse block just inside the drivers door, slamming the door could disturb connections and give some results as mentioned. Keep in mind thats only one possibility and thats why we test and prove what's wrong.
There is one piece of information that stands out here. The noise had been getting "louder/worse".
None of us were there, we didn't hear the sounds coming from the car. I can easily see the transaxle making noise, and had been doing it for a while, and then the AC compressor started to fail and axctually making more noise than the transaxle was. What would anyone do in that instance if they were just introduced to the car and an obvious noise? You would quote out the repair and deal with it. It is entirely plausible that the transmission noise was completely un-detectable until the AC noise was dealt with y the time the car showed up at the shop. Think about it, could you imagine the shop trying to sell a transmisison with the AC repair right up front? Seems they would likely raise a few eyebrows if they wrote an estimate like that, doesn't it? (Especially if there really wasn't proof at that point)
This really just shows how difficult the job can be. It sounds like it was an accurate diagnosis for "A" noise. Was it "THE" noise? Again none of us were there and we didn't get to hear the sound(s) for ourselves. BTW, my own hearing is now down to 40% over 3000hz. I won't be diagnosing any noises anymore unless there are really excessive.
Over 60 K on the Altima, and no CVT issues.
Nissan gave her zero static on replacement. The new CVT now has right at 40K miles and no issues.
Besides, English will always dominate, because it is the language of science as well as commercial aviation.
Personally, I could care less if my brilliant mechanic fixes my car while talking in spanish or vietnamese. His service manuals and his computer read-outs will be in English.
What many don't realize is that there are large swaths of urban areas, and some rural (Amish, for example) that English isn't even a second language, nor has it ever been. New York has large areas where English isn't spoken, and Milwaukee has a large German speaking population that has never been "assimilated" into the English speaking citizenry. There are many other examples.
Speaking only Spanish isn't anything new. What's new about it is how widespread its become.
It was a fishing town so we had Italians, Yugoslavians, Greeks, Norwegians, Mexicans, Poles etc.
A lot of our parents spoke with accents but they ALL spoke ENGLISH!
That was my only point. A lot of immigrants today never bother learning to speak what is our national language and this only serves to divide us.
So much for the "Melting Pot" I suppose.
Back in the 1960's when I was growing up, immigrants really had no choice if they wanted to survive other than learn English (or at a minimum, have a family member become bilingual). It's far more common than uncommon today to see a product with English-only packaging. If you want to make sales, you have to cater to the market, and that's what's happening.
The real twist here is that the US has been the anomaly for so long. Practically every other culture/nation in the world is, and has always been, at a minimum bilingual. We're just starting to catch up with everyone else... Part of that "world economy" thing...
In Europe anyway (and other first world locations, afaik), other than benelux and a few other places, bilingualism = native language and English - not because English is the language of business, but because it is the language of pop culture. I don't know if it counts so much as the demographic issues here. We aren't catching up.
Really?
Here is what happened. as we catered to them and started printing signs and packaging in differrent languages, we eliminated the NEED for them to learn English. I mean, why bother?
My step-dad was a Driver's License Examiner for over 30 years. When he was in his 50's they FORCED him to learn enough Spanish to do a Driver's Test?
Uh....is something WRONG here? Should the stop signs say STOP and ALTO?
And, yeah I guess I do see it as somewhat of an insult when an immigrant that has lived here for 40 years can't be bothered to learn English.
Sorry for the rant but it's a sore spot for me. Probably time to get back on topic.
The BMW is for sale. I've had enough. a guy is coming in an hour to see it and I can only pray it doesn't do "something" to queer the sale!
that's true, but if I take my friend at his word then the noise that existed before was still the same as existed after the AC repair. He never noticed nor mentioned a reduction of noise, just that the new AC blew very cold.
Therefore, although bad AC compressor's can make noise, I'm assuming it wasn't making much noise, unless it decided to blow up between my friend dropping it off and the mechanic test driving it.
Wouldn't the CVT noise also be detectable in "feel" and during the drive and during shifts?
Being my friend says the noise after the fact is the same as before the repair, I have to assume it was detectable.
Please elaborate on why you understand their position? Maybe it is something obvious right in front of me, but I have given it some thought and am still drawing a blank. :confuse:
When an immigrant is "welcomed in", I don't think it unreasonable that there is an assumed onus on that immigrant to learn and communicate and do business using the home country's language.
I'm of the opinion that certain things have to be nipped in the bud. We had to do that very thing here in Cda when Sikhs attempted to have us make an exception regarding helmet laws here when riding a motorcycle. Their (ridiculous) point was that not only was it against their religion to have to remove their turban so that they could don a helmet, they claimed their turban afforded them the same protection as a helmet, so was unreasonable for us to not make an exception. Among a number of flawed theories with their argument, more importantly what they failed to acknowledge was:
a) riding a motorcycle here is an option not a right.
and
b) If we caved..our collective tax dollars would have to pay to attempt to fix their smashed head..a head and a brain (if I may point out) that already had questionable intelligence before their crash.
So did the drama queen sell? I bet that thing could make a few boat payments for a skilled mechanic :shades:
I think traditional headgear should be banned altogether while driving - seems to be a hallmark of the oblivious around here.
She fired right up and behaved herself. No warning lights and she performed flawlessly on their short (by themselves) test drive.
I carefully pointed out the few flaws that I am aware of and made sure they knew that it was a fussy little German car that would not behave like their Honda Civic. They seemed to understand and they didn't nitpick the car.
In reality, it's a beautiful little car that should serve them well. It's tight and responsive and everything works. If the odometer read 60,000 miles instead of 149,000 nobody would doubt it.
They offered a couple hundred less than what I was asking and they left happy.
In the two years we have owned it, we have put less than 3000 miles on it.
Just time to move on.
I suppose one could simply cut a large hole on the top of the helmet so the turban would stick out?
Thje idea of a turban offering any protection is nuts!
http://seattle.craigslist.org/est/cto/3778041438.html
Yes, I know I spelled Convertible wrong!
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=4d3_1204939534
http://www.hdforums.com/forum/the-motorcycle-activist/204536-sikh-loses-rights-t- - o-wear-turbin-while-riding-motorcycle.html
http://www.news1130.com/news/nationa...ntent=n030642A
March 6, 2008 - 2:12 pm
By: Jered Stuffco, THE CANADIAN PRESS
BRAMPTON, Ont. - A devout, motorcycle-riding Sikh who fought Ontario's helmet law on the grounds his religion compels him to wear a turban lost his court battle Thursday in a ruling decried by fellow Sikh motorcyclists as a "devastating precedent against minorities."
Ontario Court Justice James Blacklock ruled that while the impact on Baljinder Badesha's religious rights were more than just "trivial," that consideration was overwhelmed by the "undue hardship" helmetless motorcycle riders would put on the province due to safety concerns and health-care costs.
"The evidence before me shows that to ride a motorcycle helmetless involves the imposition of significant extra risks related to safety," Blacklock wrote in his 35-page ruling. Given that the law is designed to keep people safe, Blacklock wrote that "the true importance of motorcycle helmets are understood by the rational person."
Badesha, a devout Sikh, says his religion forbids him from covering his turban and he shouldn't be made to choose between his faith and his motorcycle. The 39-year-old father of four saw his fight championed by the Ontario Human Rights Commission, which challenged the constitutional validity of the province's Highway Traffic Act.
Ontario Attorney General Chris Bentley said Thursday he had yet to fully read the ruling, but added "from the Ontario government's perspective, our concern was one of public safety." Badesha was handed a $110 ticket in September 2005 for riding without a helmet in Brampton, Ont., some 45 kilometres northwest of Toronto.
Despite Thursday's ruling, Badesha appeared to be in good spirits - joking outside court that he might sell his motorcycle. Justice Blacklock said Badesha had 30 days to pay the fine, but defence lawyer Melvin Sokolsky said his client was mulling an appeal. >snip>
" his client was mulling an appeal."
Our tax dollars hard at work. Thanks bud...this is how you reward us for your full time presence on this side of the pond :sick: :mad:
Anyway, sorta veered off thread here, we're lucky Shiftright gives us a bit of leeway here at times.
And more tax dollars at work when they crash. Damage sometimes even a mechanic who repairs people can't fix.
I look at the overall market and price it from there.
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Take the Harley rider activist about three years or so ago, who was in a crash enroute to a no-helmet-give-me-my-freedom-rights movement. Ya, he killed himself. Cause? Massive head injury. In that case I hear there was no need to spend many tax dollars on the poor slob..I guess it was evident when they got to the crash scene that lights and sirens wouldn't be necessary on the way back to the hospital..
But talk about the ultimate loser demonstration, eh?
Sometimes you see "FAIL" used a little too loosely on the internet. But then there's the odd time nothing better fits..
I go to Autotrader, use the "advanced search", and do a nationwide search on my year, make, model, trim line, miles, etc---so I try to match as closely as I can to the car I'm selling.
Once I get the results (often 30 to 100 ads), I look at the bottom of the page for their "price checker calculation", which shows the highest asking, lowest asking, and average asking of all the ads.
I take that "average asking" price as my guide--it's going to be a bit higher than "reality" but I think if I got the average asking price, I'd be doing okay.
I sometimes will adjust the "bell curve" by putting limits on the price in advanced search. In other words, to eliminate the one or two ads that are asking $22000 for a $7500 car.
I'll price my cars accordingly taking into consideration the desirability, time of year etc. It's bright and sunny now with temps in the high 70's so people want convertables.
Mine had exceptional looks and it ran perfectly. I know we looked at probably ten other ones before buying this one.
Our cars have usually sold to the first looker.
Then there's the extra heat (read frustration causing maybe a rushed/compromised job during hot humid work conditions) created by having such a layered head adornment.
And further, there are a ton of things that it could catch on which will also use up clock time and frustration. The guy would have to not only be a great mechanic but exhibit the epitome of patience, and charge by the job, before I would consider hiring him for a second.
And lastly, why should I be on the depreciation receiving end of a grease stain on my head liner? Have you priced a headliner lately? Expen$ive..
Life is complicated enough without adding this to it..
techs out of becoming one.
If I were thinking about this for a career and I were to read cardocs posts I know I would have been scared off.
Miserable jobs, the HUGE expense of buying tools, the difficulty now of beating the flat rate times.
I know it wouldn't be for me.
Hey Doc, do you wear a wedding band when you work on cars? How about a watch?
Plus, you can take a toque off and put it back on a bit later after the job, without not only the complication of re and re, but not breach any religious rules to boot.
In all fairness, I don't think I'm over-emphasizing the negatives of a Sikh mechanic in an unreasonable way. Let's let doc decide. We'll have him envision HAVING to wear the turban ALL the time during his jobs, no matter WHAT the job. And because I doubt there are many Sikhs in doc's neighborhood, I'll help him out with the approx dimensions...about 10-14" higher than his head depending on his height I believe (but I am no expert)..and the top one third must be considerably larger in diameter than any other portion of the turban...the bottom (no matter how big doc thinks his head may be at times...hahahaha I kill myself sometimes lol) as in...apprx 10-12 " wide from about the 4- 6" high mark and up. Does this sound like something that wouldn't be too intrusive (or as isell points out..dangerous) when working on a vehicle?
And I'd wager that he wears a wedding band, but not the watch. Watches get beat up badly even if they weren't a pain in other regards. I don't know about doc's size, but I know I am constantly frustrated by the size of my arms and hands etc when reaching in to get to somewhere. The last thing I need is a watch sticking out to catch on stuff.
And technically, I suspect that doc is smart enough to not wear a wedding band either, but not for the reasons you might think...if it was me I wouldn't because as an example...old motor oil is not healthy to get on your skin let alone linger under a ring where soap and water and D&L (assuming he uses that...have always meant to ask him what his favourite soap/degreaser is) can't get at it to wash and flush out. Some rings are pretty tight on a finger. I don't wear one myself.
Helmet laws I like - naturally Michigan overturned ours last year so idiots of any religious persuasion can wind up on permanent life support.
I'm trying to remember the guy I met who lost a ring finger working on a pickup but it's been too long now.
Modern cars are pretty clean afterall---not like the greasepits we've probably all worked on.
All my nephew's kids ride now too, and all in full gear. If they aren't, they can't ride. One of them started on a little mini y zinger when he was about 6, haha
Bingo!
Who repairs cars, jet airplanes, etc. in India? How any would anyone guess wear turbans or other types of head-gear?
I'd bet they've figured it all out by now...