Stories from the Sales Frontlines

mac24

I found out what they call the police in England.
The Filth or Pigs.

That's what the criminal class would call them.
If I was was to refer to them colloquially I would use the expression "Old Bill".

However the current younger generation refer to them as "po-po" or "the Feds".

They get to see all the US TV programs, and copy the expressions, that we do here!

mako1a

Mac, I thought they were called Bobbys (or Bobbies) having something to do with the hats.

Living here in a small town in Virginia, our police are called Tom, George and the Sheriff, is Doug.

mac24

Mac, I thought they were called Bobbys (or Bobbies) having something to do with the hats.

Yes. that's a more friendly expression for them and it originates from the name of the then Home Secretary, Sir Robert Peel, who founded London's Metropolitan Police Force in 1829.

Someone named Robert is often given the nickname Bob, hence the name Bobby.
The original nickname for a police constable was Peeler, but you're only likely to see or hear that in a Sherlock Holmes story.

Finally, I think the term 'cop' originates here in the 'states where it was taken from the initials of the term Constable On Patrol, as a policeman would have first been described.

sterlingdog

"...when children here were first taught to spell as the word sounded phonetically..."

Egad, yes! I remember when we started phonics---against my strongest opposition. The first thing to go was the spelling book. Breaking the word down by syllables, learning the definition, and using it correctly in a sentence was passe. This lead to children being encouraged to "write freely" without regard to spelling or grammar in order to build self-esteem and encourage the sharing of thoughts. What a bunch of sh--! I remember hearing a consultant say, "Let the students write the word as they hear it. If it's not quite right, it won't matter." Not QUITE right?! Won't MATTER?! This produced a generation that could not spell or write a logical paragraph. Unfortunately, we never recovered from this.

In the 1980's, I would get calls from plant managers and CEO's. They would ask, "How did this employee get a diploma? Why didn't you teach them how to spell and how to write?" Some plants even began their own evening classes to teach spelling and writing. I taught nights for just such a company. We did the children a terrible injustice. When I taught college English in the evenings, it was just as bad. I actually used a 9th grade grammar book for these college freshmen. Literature book? I used a 10th grade edition along with a book on learning context clues. I finally gave up and began teaching education courses to teachers. That's another story that you DON'T want to hear. Let me get off of this soap box.

Richard

sterlingdog

Congratulations on the new Ford Explorer XLT! Having owned one of those, I know how much you will enjoy it. The color combination sounds great---Suede White with stone leather. You and Explorer can now compare notes. I'm glad that the deal went so well for you. It sounds as if it was a pleasant experience. Keep us posted as to how you like it. Explorer said that his gas mileage got better after a few weeks. I love the new design; I know that you do as well. Enjoy!

Richard

sterlingdog

"And yet you are leaving money to these relatives..."

Not my wife's relatives. They are the sneaky ones. Her brother is the one who tried to steal farm land from her. Our attorney took care of that situation.

My nephew and niece aren't sneaky. They are very up front about what they want. :P

Richard

sterlingdog

"We still like some British TV shows..."

"Are You Being Served?", "Keeping Up Appearances", and "As Time Goes By" are some of our favorites.

Richard

sterlingdog

Is your BIL's F150 the four door or the two door? What color did he select?

Richard

sterlingdog

I loved your story---just beautiful. Thanks for sharing.

Richard

isellhondas

Check Engine light came on tonight.

Man, how dumb was I to buy this junker?

qbrozen

ya know, with all of these things popping up so fast, you can't help but assume the previous owner knew about at least some of them and covered them up.

driver100

I currently reside in Florida, but I spent the first forty years of my life in England

Many years ago I was in Florida and a lady with a very British accent was our waitress. I asked her how she found her way to Florida?

She said she would be depressed if she stayed in England with all the rain and cloudy weather. She loved the sunshine.

Hope you enjoy living in Florida. Canadians love going to Florida in the winter, millions of us go there, and we are still trying to get a winter home there, a little south of Tampa.

driver100

current younger generation refer to them as "po-po" or "the Feds".

We go to London twice a year and a daughter lived in London for several years. Sometimes the British come up with words that are perfect, such as "brilliant". A new car is brilliant, a good tv program, a nice new shirt etc.

I also like dodgy. That fellow seems to be "dodgy". Meaning shifty, dishonest. The words almost speak for themselves.

driver100

Is your BIL's F150 the four door or the two door? What color did he select?

My BIL got the 4 door and the room for the rear seat is huge, larger than most cars. Seat easily folds up and you have a lot of room inside. Also, the cover over the back is easy to put on, just roll it in place and snap on.

The color is slate gray which is what I would expect, I don't think he would be able to buy a red vehicle...he always gets neutral colors. It would look better in red or yellow. These trucks are huge, the wheels are massive, the rear tailgate must be 5 feet high. You need to use the step to get inside and you might want to think about if you always want to climb up or down each time you go for a ride.

My other BIL has a little Ford Ranger. I actually like those, they are small, strong, and practical. They are the best selling compact trucks in Canada, but they don't sell in the U.S. so they will be discontinued.

Edmunds doesn't give the Ranger a great review, Ford let it just fade;


Pros
Four-cylinder engine delivers decent fuel economy; smaller dimensions make for better maneuverability.

Cons
Dated interior design; ridiculously cramped jump seats in SuperCab models; choppy ride, subpar handling and braking; many desirable features not even offered.

driver100

Man, how dumb was I to buy this junker?

I still think it is worth $2500 just to have it sitting in your driveway. They are one of the nicest looking cars around, people will go by and admire it.

For $2500 you are boosting the value of your home about $20,000. It was a "brilliant" purchase.

fezo

My nephew and niece aren't sneaky. They are very up front about what they want.

What? More so than me? I wouldn't think that possible....

mac24

Many years ago I was in Florida and a lady with a very British accent was our waitress. I asked her how she found her way to Florida?
She said she would be depressed if she stayed in England with all the rain and cloudy weather. She loved the sunshine.

A fascination with all things American in my youth, and the dreary British weather were my main reasons for coming here.

I was also very aware that British society's establishment values had been changing for some time, and not for the better.

I treasure the years of my life I spent there, but you couldn't pay me enough to return to live there now.

mac24

"We still like some British TV shows..."
"Are You Being Served?", "Keeping Up Appearances", and "As Time Goes By" are some of our favorites.
Richard

I can tell you're regular PBS viewer!

robr2

Pesonally I'm a fan of Top Gear and the James Mays' specials.

Thanks for the well wishes on the new Explorer. It was an easy purchase and my wife is happy.

sterlingdog

Good grief---another light?! Sounds as if they've all come on within a week of the purchase. I have to be honest with you. Each time that you do a post on this car, I think that your name tag here must be a mistake. You are such an expert with cars---excellent knowledge base, years of experience, thorough in all inspections, etc. I keep thinking that this can't be happening to Isell. It does seem to prove one thing: No buyer can ever be 100% sure about a car---new OR used. Also, I would imagine that this has happened to many posters here. I know that I certainly purchased a couple of lemons over the years.

Here's a thought. Take the car to a BMW dealer for a complete analysis. Find out once and for all just how much money it would take to make the car operable. Then make a decision---fix it or sell it as is. At least cosmetically, it is a beautiful car. Try to look on the positive side. You only have $2,500 tied up in this nightmare. The difficult part now is trying to decide if you really want to invest more money in it. Tough call. Best of luck.

Richard

imidazol97

>Take the car to BMW dealer and find out...

That's a good idea. Also, can Isell(hondas) find from the dealer's computer log if the car was in for checkups and diagnosis with the earlier owner. It would tell if the owner knew about problems that weren't obvious at time of purchase.

If this works out the way I think, we might change the screen name to IsellBMW.

mac24

ya know, with all of these things popping up so fast, you can't help but assume the previous owner knew about at least some of them and covered them up.

I'd find it hard to disagree, it's just too coincidental.

sterlingdog

The reviews are much, much better on the F150.

Richard

sterlingdog

We do enjoy British comedy...so funny without the dirty talk that so many American comedians now use to make a point. We used to have such great comedians like Lucille Ball, George Burns, Carol Burnett, Bob Hope, Paul Lynde, etc. They could all make you laugh, and they didn't have to use a single curse word to do it. I don't mean to sound prudish, but some comedians just go too far in their attempt to be funny.

Richard

robr2

So I gather you've never seen Eddie Izzard?? You really can't compare current stand up comedians to those comedy actors from the 50's-70's. BTW, Buddy Hackett and Paul Lynde weren't exactly "clean" acts.

Are You Being Served didn't use language but served up plenty of tawdry remarks. But to compare a show that went out of production almost 30 years ago to today's stand up comedians really isn't fair.

Kirstie_H

I treasure the years of my life I spent there, but you couldn't pay me enough to return to live there now.

In a lot of areas of England, that's quite literally true. Housing & rent prices are insane near any of the larger cities. I realize that's also true in the US, but there's a lot more square mileage here - you can go hundreds or thousands of miles before hitting another pricey big city here, and there are plenty of large- to medium-sized cities that are still affordable.

isellhondas

My son and I had the hood up last night after the Check Engine light came on when we heard..." Hey, do you need any help"

We looked up to see a couple of LDS Missionarys.

I said " Great, we need a BMW mechanic and we get a couple of Mormons"

One of them laughed so hard I thought he would wet his pants.

" Let me guess...Donny and Marie are coming to town and you guys are selling tickets"...More laughter!

For a couple of non mechanics they were full of ideas and advise.

They will never sign us up but they are always friendly and usually have a good sense of humor. They did make us laugh.

This BMW is a beautiful car and it runs great!

There is a well respected Indy BMW place 5 minutes from here and I suppose it's time for them to take a look at it.

I expected trouble but nothing like this. The warning lights come on like a string of firecrackers going off.

And people think Hondas are boring.

Seriously I honestly think I've seen warning lights on Hondas maybe five times in my long career with them.

gogiboy

"I used a 10th grade edition along with a book on learning context clues."

You mean I can't just use those yellow and black paperbacks that condense plot lines, provide metaphorical and allegorical meaning and define character motivation? I think they're written by this fellow named Cliff. Actually, that's too much work and also involves reading and writing. Instead I plan to buy my book analysis online from a poor graduate student trying to make ends meet. Besides, isn't grammar (Canadian spelling) married to grandpop--what else do I need to know?

Gogiboy

gogiboy

I know that mako has his heart set on a yellow Mustang GT, but perhaps he might be tempted by a car I saw listed in the SundayTulsa World classifieds: 1972 Ford Pinto. 10,200 original miles. Good condition and drives well. Best of all it's yellow. $3800.

I'm sure with some hard negotiating you could get that price even lower. Weren't they something like $2500 new? Boy, you've got to love that de appreciation--beats the pants off of any 2011 or 2012 model mako might buy. Despite the Pinto's woefully inadequate gas tank I bet the insurance would be much cheaper than a new Mustang

Gogiboy

roadburner

"Are You Being Served?", "Keeping Up Appearances", and "As Time Goes By" are some of our favorites.

Ours too; we also like Doc Martin, Top Gear, Red Dwarf, and Doctor Who.

sterlingdog

At least the comedians of old left some things to the imagination. Why should I not compare comedians over the decades? Funny is funny---depending on how much moral decay you think is funny.

Richard

driver100

I treasure the years of my life I spent there, but you couldn't pay me enough to return to live there now.

We go to London on business twice a year, and try to combine it with a side trip. We love going to London, and as I have said before, our favourite (Canadian/British spelling) thing to do is to go on the top of a double decker bus and let it take you wherever they go. When you get off you just hop on another bus....all with one day pass.

I would miss not going to London, and it would be nice to be able to afford an apartment to stay in, but I sure wouldn't want to live there. Our standard of living is generally much higher in North America, especially for the common man.

mac24

"Are You Being Served?", "Keeping Up Appearances", and "As Time Goes By" are some of our favorites.
Ours too; we also like Doc Martin, Top Gear, Red Dwarf, and Doctor Who.

If you get the opportunity you might also try Faulty Towers, Green Wing, Porridge, Minder, The Sweeny, Episodes, After Henry, and Yes Minister.

I suggest you Google them first to see which might suit you best.

roadburner

We drove up to Northern Kentucky on Saturday to visit family and I used the opportunity to drive over to Cincinnati and drop by The BMW/Mini Store. They have a one owner 2003 Mini Cooper S that has been serviced their since new. We walked into the showroom and were assisted by a very pleasant salesperson. She quickly found the key for the car and walked out to the lot with us. She asked me if I wanted to drive it and I said yes. She walked back to the showroom and returned with a dealer plate and told us to have fun. My son and I took it on a 15 minute drive and everything seemed to be in fine fettle. I returned and she gave me her card and I in turn gave her my phone number. She asked when I was planning on buying and I told her that the car was going to be driven by my son and that we wanted the right car and weren't in a big hurry. She said to call her if I wanted to make a deal. The whole experience was very laid back and we are about 95 % sure we are going to buy it. Right now we are just waiting on a price check over in "Real-World Trade-In Values and a final opinion on reliability from a friend who has a pal who runs an indie BMW/Mini repair shop. More information as it becomes available...

roadburner

If you get the opportunity you might also try Faulty Towers, Green Wing, Porridge, Minder, The Sweeny, Episodes, After Henry, and Yes Minister.

Thanks. I forgot about Faulty Towers. I also have the complete Blackadder and Mr. Bean box sets.

Oh yeah, I also have subscriptions to BMW CAR and Thoroughbred and Classic Cars. My son has a subscription to Four Four Two, a British football magazine.

driver100

The reviews are much, much better on the F150.

Oh, I agree completely. I wouldn't recommend the Ranger to any one. My BIL with the Ranger buys the cheapest cars he can. He got a Ranger with column shift manual, no air conditioning, wind up windows....we joke and ask him if the radio is only AM. He even drives with the tailgate off at times to save fuel.
I give him credit, he left work early with a pension, and he will try to live as thrifty as possible. Unfortunately, his 20 year old Volvo got T-boned by an 86 year old lady. It was a write off and the insurance company will only give him $1900. He just put $2500 into the car a year ago.

The F150 is definitely state of the art when it comes to trucks. Have you tried stepping into it though. It is a long ways up and I don't know how that would be with a cane etc., although it might make for some good exercise.

He thinks he will ride his bike and his wife can use the Ranger to get to work etc. She doesn't like the Ranger because it doesn't have a/c. He will need a 2nd vehicle when winter comes though.

sterlingdog

Many of my students tried using the yellow and black paperbacks. As I told them: Those are the colors of the warning signs on the highways of life. At test time, you'll definitely fall off the "cliff".

Richard

driver100

They will never sign us up but they are always friendly and usually have a good sense of humor.

You should have asked them to say a little prayer for your BMW.

An indie garage sounds like a good idea. One of the pros there might even buy it from you.

roadburner

If you didn't live a couple of thousand miles away I'd probably buy it for what you paid for it(it IS a manual, correct?). I have a code reader and would probably rectify the CEL problem in a day or two.

If you give the last seven digits of the VIN to any BMW dealer they will be able to tell you the service history of the car within the BMW dealer network.

mac24

Thanks. I forgot about Faulty Towers. I also have the complete Blackadder and Mr. Bean box sets.

Hah, how could I have forgotton about Blackadder and Mr Bean, along with Open all Hours, Only Fools and Horses, The Good Life/Good Neighbours, and to see 'House' (Hugh Laurie) as a totally different character, watch Jeeves and Wooster.

Kirstie_H

My son has a subscription to Four Four Two, a British football magazine.

***WARNING - SELF-PROMOTION ALERT***

Back in 1998, right before France '98 (World Cup), a friend & I set up a website called the "World Cup of Footballer Hairdos". At the time, there were quite a few well-known players with wild manes (Ginola, Valderrama, Batistuta, the entire Italian team) and it seemed like fun. I can't remember who won (that wasn't really the point of it), but Four Four Two found it, despite our lack of promotion, and featured it in an issue.

The $0 we made off it gave my parents just another reason to be happy they'd invested in my education. :P

Kirstie_H

"House" (Hugh Laurie) was also in Blackadder. And Fry & Laurie. I'd him in all of those long before he started his role as "House," and it took me a loooong time to accept him in a non-comedy role. I kept expecting House to break out of his doctor persona.

mac24

Back in 1998, right before France '98 (World Cup), a friend & I set up a website called the "World Cup of Footballer Hairdos". .............The $0 we made off it gave my parents just another reason to be happy they'd invested in my education.

That information would make a good basis for one of the questions should there ever be an Edmunds Pub Quiz.

"Which member of staff ran a tonsorially themed soccer website, and how much money did he/she make?"

You have hidden depths Kirstie H! :surprise:

roadburner

I also forgot about Waiting for God; another classic.

mac24

I also forgot about Waiting for God; another classic.

Even if not being currently broadcast, many of these programmes (British spelling ) can be found on Amazon on DVD or for download, and on Hulu/Netflicks and similar services.

And although you didn't hear it from me, if you know how to assemble .RAR files and know where to look, you can download them from the internet too.

imidazol97

Those Cliff notes are available free on the internet along with a couple of other companies of the same type of summary. My son used them through high school. They are GREAT as a help.

BUT, he read the books. He would read some of the assistant sources in advance and then read others afterward. He also read them when looking into topics for the perpetual research paper he had to write about many of the books that were class assignments. He usually picked his own topics making sure they weren't in the typical topics from the various notes sources.

I always believed the Cliff Notes were the same as the answers in the back of the book for physics, math, chemistry, etc.: they help those who are working to learn from any mistakes--and sometimes the answers are wrong. Nothing makes a student feel better than determining the grad student who wrote the answers made a mistake.

Kirstie_H

My abilities to waste time doing tasks that are nominally (but not practically) productive are virtually limitless.

isellhondas

Nope, it's a automatic and it has just gobs of torque and the shift points are exactly where they should be.

They can only give you service history if you use a dealer and this seller didn't. He had an Indy shop that he used.

I'm not ready to give up on it yet but it is definatly reminding me what the wonderful BMW experience is all about.

Great cars, to be sure but always a PITA!

sterlingdog

Oh, I do agree that the "yellowjackets" can be another helpful source, among many,---as long as they aren't the MAIN source. I did have students who thought that they could get by on that publication alone. Big mistake!

Richard

isellhondas

I once had one of my teachers tap me on the shoulder in a book store when I was looking through a Cliff Notes book that applied to what she was teaching us.

Busted!