adulterated fuel

"Carol Hague" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I think they tend to be a bit conservative with the sell-by dates on
stuff as rule, if only to cover their backs, but do be careful all the
same, especially if the sandwiches have mayonnaise in them.

Yes. It is not as though at 2359 they are OK and at 0001 totally inedible. I
tend to trust my judgement, if it looks and smells off, then I will not eat
it.

--
Simon Mason
http://www.simonmason.karoo.net

On Fri, 2 Mar 2007 12:36:09 -0000 someone who may be "Simon Mason"
<[email hidden]> wrote this:-

Quoted message said:

Yes. It is not as though at 2359 they are OK and at 0001 totally inedible.

I tend to buy things coming near their date cheaply and then bung
them in the freezer. That will stop the germs multiplying quite so
rapidly.

Quoted message said:

I
tend to trust my judgement, if it looks and smells off, then I will not eat
it.

That is far too sensible. Do you know that you are doing lawyers out
of a job!

--
David Hansen, Edinburgh
I will *always* explain revoked encryption keys, unless RIP prevents me
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/00023--e.htm#54

BigRab said:

Time was when you, or a helpful neighbour, would clean the carb, blow
out the fuel lines and drain the tank.

Quoted message said:

No chance of a diy fix now for the vast majority of us.

If I did buy a car again, which I might have to one day if my legs
start giving out, I'd make sure it was one of the old fashioned kind
where you can do a lot of the maintenance yourself with the usual
toolkit in a rag. Running a car is expensive enough without supporting
the whole parasitic economy of educational casualties pretending to be
mechanics.

--
Chris Malcolm [email hidden] DoD #205
IPAB, Informatics, JCMB, King's Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3JZ, UK
[http://www.dai.ed.ac.uk/homes/cam/]

Chris Malcolm said:

If I did buy a car again, which I might have to one day if my legs
start giving out, I'd make sure it was one of the old fashioned kind
where you can do a lot of the maintenance yourself with the usual
toolkit in a rag.

You'll need to import it from India or Brazil or some such then.
I don't believe such a thing exists in teh UK market.

regards, Ian SMith
--
|\ /| no .sig
|o o|
|/ \|

Ian Smith said:

Quoted message said:

If I did buy a car again, which I might have to one day if my legs
start giving out, I'd make sure it was one of the old fashioned kind
where you can do a lot of the maintenance yourself with the usual
toolkit in a rag.

You'll need to import it from India or Brazil or some such then.

I think even Brazil stopped building the air-cooled VW beetles not so
long ago. He could always buy a second-hand 2CV, I suppose.

Andrew Price said:

On 05 Mar 2007 13:55:34 GMT, Ian Smith <[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

I think even Brazil stopped building the air-cooled VW beetles not so
long ago. He could always buy a second-hand 2CV, I suppose.

Ahem. Series Land Rover.
Would need Imperial spanners along with oily rag.

John Hearns twisted the electrons to say:

Quoted message said:

Ahem. Series Land Rover.
Would need Imperial spanners along with oily rag.

Actually any Land Rover up to, but not including, the Turbo-Diesel model
would be fine. A classic Mini (ie: not the BMW thing) that predates fuel
injection and catalytic converters would also be an option, but the Land
Rover will be easier to work on!
--
These opinions might not even be mine ...
Let alone connected with my employer ...

Chris Malcolm said:

Running a car is expensive enough without supporting
the whole parasitic economy of educational casualties pretending to be
mechanics.

What a horribly snobbish thing to write.

Perhaps many of those "educational casualties" are quite happy working with
engines. Perhaps that "parasitic economy" exists because so many people
nowadays have no idea how a car works, so paradoxically have to depend on
those "educational casualties" to fix and service it for them.

Or, perhaps more likely, because so many people are so far up their own
arses they would not demean themselves by getting their own hands dirty but
would rather pay someone else to do it for them while [censored] about
"parasitic economies" and making insulting remarks about other peoples'
educational standards on newsgroups.

Tom
--
Return address is dead. Real address is at
http://www.happy-penguin.info/address.jpg

John Hearns said:

Ahem. Series Land Rover. Would need Imperial spanners along with
oily rag.

You'll need Whitworth too, for the gearbox.

--
Alan J. Wylie http://www.wylie.me.uk/
"Perfection [in design] is achieved not when there is nothing left to add,
but rather when there is nothing left to take away."
-- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Ian Smith said:

Chris Malcolm said:

If I did buy a car again, which I might have to one day if my legs
start giving out, I'd make sure it was one of the old fashioned kind
where you can do a lot of the maintenance yourself with the usual
toolkit in a rag.

Quoted message said:

You'll need to import it from India or Brazil or some such then.
I don't believe such a thing exists in teh UK market.

You must be referring to buying a new car, a very expensive option with
a terrible carbon footprint.

--
Chris Malcolm [email hidden] DoD #205
IPAB, Informatics, JCMB, King's Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3JZ, UK
[http://www.dai.ed.ac.uk/homes/cam/]

Tom said:

Chris Malcolm <[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Running a car is expensive enough without supporting
the whole parasitic economy of educational casualties pretending to be
mechanics.

Quoted message said:

What a horribly snobbish thing to write.

But I am a snob. Do you think I ought to pretend not to be?

Quoted message said:

Perhaps many of those "educational casualties" are quite happy working with
engines.

Exactly, but keeping educational casualties happy is not an efficient
way of getting a job done.

Quoted message said:

Perhaps that "parasitic economy" exists because so many people
nowadays have no idea how a car works, so paradoxically have to depend on
those "educational casualties" to fix and service it for them.

Of course, and I don't see what's paradoxical about it. Modern car
repair methods have been computerised and built round replaceable
modules precisely so that educational casualties don't have too much
difficulty fixing things often enough well enough to keep cars
going. But that means things are often junked and replaced when an
intelligent mechanic could have identified and fixed the failing part
much more cheaply.

Quoted message said:

Or, perhaps more likely, because so many people are so far up their own
arses they would not demean themselves by getting their own hands dirty but
would rather pay someone else to do it for them while [censored] about
"parasitic economies" and making insulting remarks about other peoples'
educational standards on newsgroups.

Phew! For a moment there I thought you must be trying to be rude about
me, but since my post made it clear that I'm quite happy getting my
grimy hands inside an engine you're obviously ranting about some other
snob.

--
Chris Malcolm [email hidden] DoD #205
IPAB, Informatics, JCMB, King's Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3JZ, UK
[http://www.dai.ed.ac.uk/homes/cam/]

Chris Malcolm said:

You must be referring to buying a new car, a very expensive option with
a terrible carbon footprint.

A friend of mine drives an ancient Triumph Herald. He claims he can fix
ANYTHING that goes wrong. If parts aren't available 2nd hand, he can
make them!

An observer once commented that his ancient vehicle wasn't very
environmentally friendly compared to a modern vehicle. My friend's reply
was that since he only used his Herald once per month, it was probably
better than that of the critic!

Chris Malcolm said:

Tom said:

Chris Malcolm <[email hidden]> wrote:

But I am a snob. Do you think I ought to pretend not to be?

Why not? You did in your post to alt.support.menopause on 11 Nov 2002
where you berated "the absurd academic elitism of the education system", the
same behaviour you seem to be displaying here. Does this make you a
hypocrite as well as a snob Chris?

Quoted message said:

keeping educational casualties happy is not an efficient
way of getting a job done.

Who mentioned efficiency? My point was that if someone chooses to be a
mechanic, If being a mechanic is all they ever wanted to be, in what way
does that make them a casualty? Not everyone aspires to the lofty heights
of "academic elitism"

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Perhaps that "parasitic economy" exists because so many people
nowadays have no idea how a car works, so paradoxically have to
depend on those "educational casualties" to fix and service it for
them.

Modern car repair methods have been computerised and built round
replaceable
modules precisely so that educational casualties don't have too much
difficulty fixing things often enough well enough to keep cars
going.

You really think that motor manufacturers build cars in a modular fashion
so that it is easier for a mechanic to fix them? You don't think that maybe
the reason for modular construction might just be for the robots that build
them, and for economic reasons, so that the same module can be used in a
whole range of different vehicles belonging to the same manufacturer?. Have
you ever had to dissasemble the entire front bumper assembly just to change
a blown headlight bulb?[1][2] In what way is that making things easier for
the "educational casualties" ?

Quoted message said:

But that means things are often junked and replaced when an
intelligent mechanic could have identified and fixed the failing part
much more cheaply.

Intelligent mechanic? Are these that same mechanics you keep refering to as
"educational casualties"? or are these a different breed who only work on
cars built before 1990? The ones who display "The old traditions of
intelligent expert craftsmen, apprentices, guilds, etc., (who) have been
swept away in the stampede for often useless academic glitter and
status"[3]. The same useless academic glitter and status you seem to now be
so absurdly proud of

Quoted message said:

Phew! For a moment there I thought you must be trying to be rude about
me, but since my post made it clear that I'm quite happy getting my
grimy hands inside an engine you're obviously ranting about some other
snob.

I don't need to be rude to you Chris. I pity you. When someone displays
this level of snobbishness and bitterness about others, and feels a need to
belittle a whole range of people they have never met I usually suspect a
deep seated unhappiness, possibly because someone thinks that they have
wasted their life in the "stampede for often useless academic glitter and
status" If you are "quite happy getting (your) grimy hands inside an
engine" then maybe you should have been a motor mechanic instead. Who knows,
you might have been one of the good ones.

Tom
--
Return address is dead. Real address is at
http://www.happy-penguin.info/address.jpg

[1] Many Fords, including the Focus (best selling car in Britain), many
Audis, Vauxhalls, VW's ect.

[2] Yes, I know it's a lamp, not a bulb.

[3] alt.support.menopause on 11 Nov 2002 again.

"Tom" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Why not? You did in your post to alt.support.menopause on 11 Nov 2002

Quoted message said:

[3] alt.support.menopause on 11 Nov 2002 again.

Blimey, that's a pretty impressive case of clutching at straws. Can't you
find anything more recent to support your argument?

clive

Richard Bates said:

A friend of mine drives an ancient Triumph Herald. He claims he can fix
ANYTHING that goes wrong. If parts aren't available 2nd hand, he can
make them!

The best car I have ever owned for tinkering with. Used to sit on the
front wheel with the bonnet up and adjust tappets and timing to my
hearts content. Special feature was the start button in the engine
compartment.

--
Don Whybrow

Sequi Bonum Non Time

After things go from bad to worse, the cycle will repeat itself.

In article <[email hidden]>, Don Whybrow
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Richard Bates said:

A friend of mine drives an ancient Triumph Herald. He claims he can fix
ANYTHING that goes wrong. If parts aren't available 2nd hand, he can
make them!

The best car I have ever owned for tinkering with. Used to sit on the
front wheel with the bonnet up and adjust tappets and timing to my
hearts content. Special feature was the start button in the engine
compartment.

And a reserve setting on the petrol tank. I loved my Vitesse, very
characterful and fun to drive but with unfortunate handling
characteristics that ultimately led to its demise. :-(

On 7 Mar,

Rob Morley said:

And a reserve setting on the petrol tank. I loved my Vitesse, very
characterful and fun to drive but with unfortunate handling
characteristics that ultimately led to its demise. :-(

Back wheel tucked under with that pivoted rear sus?

--
BD
Change lycos to yahoo to reply

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

On 7 Mar,

Rob Morley said:

And a reserve setting on the petrol tank. I loved my Vitesse, very
characterful and fun to drive but with unfortunate handling
characteristics that ultimately led to its demise. :-(

Back wheel tucked under with that pivoted rear sus?

That's the one - the road dropped away on a bend ...

Tom said:

Chris Malcolm said:

Tom said:

Chris Malcolm <[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

But I am a snob. Do you think I ought to pretend not to be?

Quoted message said:

Why not? You did in your post to alt.support.menopause on 11 Nov 2002
where you berated "the absurd academic elitism of the education system", the
same behaviour you seem to be displaying here. Does this make you a
hypocrite as well as a snob Chris?

No, it's just poor reading comprehension skills on your part. You seem
to be unaware that there are many different kinds of snobbery.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

keeping educational casualties happy is not an efficient
way of getting a job done.

Quoted message said:

Who mentioned efficiency? My point was that if someone chooses to be a
mechanic, If being a mechanic is all they ever wanted to be, in what way
does that make them a casualty? Not everyone aspires to the lofty heights
of "academic elitism"

I see what you've gone wrong. You think I meant that all mechanics
were educational casualties. That's not what I said, and it's not what
I meant.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Perhaps that "parasitic economy" exists because so many people
nowadays have no idea how a car works, so paradoxically have to
depend on those "educational casualties" to fix and service it for
them.

Modern car repair methods have been computerised and built round
replaceable
modules precisely so that educational casualties don't have too much
difficulty fixing things often enough well enough to keep cars
going.

Quoted message said:

You really think that motor manufacturers build cars in a modular fashion
so that it is easier for a mechanic to fix them?

Yes I do, and it happens to be a topic I've studied in detail and
discussed with people who design car assembly lines.

Quoted message said:

You don't think that maybe
the reason for modular construction might just be for the robots that build
them, and for economic reasons, so that the same module can be used in a
whole range of different vehicles belonging to the same manufacturer?.

That's a contributory reason, but it's not the only one, and that
particular purpose generates a different kind of modularity.

Quoted message said:

Have
you ever had to dissasemble the entire front bumper assembly just to change
a blown headlight bulb?[1][2] In what way is that making things easier for
the "educational casualties" ?

That fact that some people do silly things doesn't mean that better
ways of doing it are not well known and well established.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

But that means things are often junked and replaced when an
intelligent mechanic could have identified and fixed the failing part
much more cheaply.

Quoted message said:

Intelligent mechanic? Are these that same mechanics you keep refering to as
"educational casualties"? or are these a different breed who only work on
cars built before 1990? The ones who display "The old traditions of
intelligent expert craftsmen, apprentices, guilds, etc., (who) have been
swept away in the stampede for often useless academic glitter and
status"[3].

This is paranoia on your part. There are stupid mechanics and
intelligent mechanics, just as there are stupid plumbers and intelligent
plumbers, stupid architects and intelligent architects, etc, etc..

Quoted message said:

The same useless academic glitter and status you seem to now be
so absurdly proud of

Now? You're listening to voices in your head. I haven't said a word
about academic glitter and status in this thread, let alone suggested
I have any to be proud of.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Phew! For a moment there I thought you must be trying to be rude about
me, but since my post made it clear that I'm quite happy getting my
grimy hands inside an engine you're obviously ranting about some other
snob.

Quoted message said:

I don't need to be rude to you Chris. I pity you. When someone displays
this level of snobbishness and bitterness about others,

There wasn't the slightest bitterness. You imagined that. There was
sarcasm, but I enjoy sarcasm.

Quoted message said:

and feels a need to
belittle a whole range of people they have never met

Haven't you read the Which reports on garage repairs? It's a well
established fact that there are lots of clueless car mechanics out
there.

Quoted message said:

I usually suspect a
deep seated unhappiness, possibly because someone thinks that they have
wasted their life in the "stampede for often useless academic glitter and
status"

Well that certainly wouldn't be me. I only entered university life at
an age when some folk are taking early retirement.

Quoted message said:

If you are "quite happy getting (your) grimy hands inside an
engine" then maybe you should have been a motor mechanic instead. Who knows,
you might have been one of the good ones.

I have great respect for good mechanics and engineers and have learned
a great deal from working beside them. I can and do fix most things
mechanical, electrical, or electronic that I own.

--
Chris Malcolm [email hidden] DoD #205
IPAB, Informatics, JCMB, King's Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3JZ, UK
[http://www.dai.ed.ac.uk/homes/cam/]

Chris Malcolm said:

Tom said:

Chris Malcolm said:

Tom <[email hidden]> wrote:
> Chris Malcolm <[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

I see what you've gone wrong. You think I meant that all mechanics
were educational casualties. That's not what I said, and it's not what
I meant. There are stupid mechanics and intelligent mechanics, just as
there
are stupid plumbers and intelligent plumbers, stupid architects and
intelligent architects, etc, etc..

So not "the whole parasitic economy of educational casualties pretending to
be
mechanics." then?

At least we agree on one thing, there are stupid people in all professions.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I don't need to be rude to you Chris. I pity you. When someone
displays this level of snobbishness and bitterness about others,

There wasn't the slightest bitterness. You imagined that. There was
sarcasm, but I enjoy sarcasm.

"Sarcasm: a mode of satirical wit depending for its effect on bitter,
caustic, and often ironic language that is usually directed against an
individual"[1]

Except there was no satire, no wit and no irony in your statement, just
caustic bitterness.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

and feels a need to
belittle a whole range of people they have never met

Haven't you read the Which reports on garage repairs? It's a well
established fact that there are lots of clueless car mechanics out
there.

As with everything in life, you get what you pay for. If you use the big
chain, discount part fitters, don't expect the same standards of work you
would receive from time served, City & Guilds qualified mechanics,
especially those who run their own businesses and depend on repeat customers
and the recommendations of those customers.

Quoted message said:

I have great respect for good mechanics and engineers and have learned
a great deal from working beside them.

I'm glad to hear it. Next time you are learning a great deal from one of
them, tell them you think "Running a car is expensive enough without
supporting the whole parasitic economy of educational casualties pretending
to be mechanics", and when you wake up, get someone to take some
photographs. I'd like to see them.

Now as you've [censored], I've [censored], you've [censored] back and I've [censored]
back, can we get back on topic?

Or do you have anything interesting to add?

Tom
--
Return address is dead. Real address is at
http://www.happy-penguin.info/address.jpg

[1] http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/sarcasm