The Things I Can't Teach You

[drjankowska]

I can't believe the amount of morons (yes, morons) in Australia who say to themselves - "I literally know Jack Sh@t about rewiring, but if that dumb tradie can do it, so can I! What's the worst that can happen because of my utter tightassery?"

I dunno, perhaps you'll get electrocuted and die? Perhaps your tenants will (looking at you, DIY dodgy landlords and husband and wife renovators). Perhaps the whole frikken family will die in a house fire because you were too cheap to call a sparky.

[notalwaysright]

People want me to talk them through all kinds of projects. I will attempt to, since unless something horrible happens sewing or crafting is unlikely to burn their house down. Although lately people have been wanting fabric (or stickers?) to put on lampshades, and I'm like "the only heat resistant fabric we have is ironing board cover." Yes, I know you CAN make fabric lampshades and they can be totally fine. However I don't want to say a certain fabric will work, when I have no idea if they will make it properly. For all I know they're planning to drape it over a bare bulb and call it a shade.

[XCashier]

How unfair it is that they have to call a tradie out to fix their issue because the mean assholes at X Store won't tell them how to fix it themselves.

Yeah, how dare you not give them a reason to electrocute themselves and then sue the store! Shame on you! [/sarcasm]

The entitlement-mindedness of some people is just insane.

[mjr]

Telex machines. I had heard of them, but never seen them.

Ha ha ha ha ha...

This means that "texting" has been around a lot longer than most people think...

Heck, I guess technically you could consider Morse Code texting...

But I digress.

[katzklaw]

yeah. there's a lot of people in the RVing world that get pissed off at us when we won't 1. touch their propane system (this includes removing a 30lb tank for a refill) 2. touch their sewer system (including hooking up the hose of the pump out truck) 3. fix any minor stupid thing wrong INSIDE their rig...

sometimes they get it that it's insurance.. if something goes wrong we're liable. sometimes they fuss cuss and carry on about us being lazy

o well :-/

[Latekin]

Urgh, mom and pop DIY types annoy living hell out of me sometimes. They wanna renovate the whole house themselves ao they don't have to pay plumbers or tilers or builders,but they've never so much as used a drill before and don't wanna listen when you tell them "no, you shouldn't install that bathtub yourself."

We had one man before Christmas last year telling our manager he was going to sue us because we wouldn't take a sink back after it spewed water everywhere in his bathroom, ruined his paint job and broke his pipes...we couldn't take it back because the warranty only covers it if it's installed by a licensed plumber. Guess who tried doing an install himself with no clue how? When we still refused he said he'd stand outside the store over the Christmas weekend telling people not to come in because we were scam artists. Boss told him fine, but he had to do it from the intersection, since he'd otherwise be tresspassing on private property. Guess who never showed up on the Christmas weekend?

C'mon people, if you don't know how to do something yourself, then you need to get someone who does. Cause the repair bill to clean up after your stupidity is 100 times more expensive than the initial installation/renovation costs would be.

[raudf]

I was telling my Dad about this thread and he reminded me of the issues I would talk to him about during the MW repair years. Things, in my mental defense, I'd blocked out because of the sheer stupidity of it.

Things I would not do:

I will not tell you how to install a blade on a law tractor. Same goes for the belt, spindle assembly, tires, tie rod, ball joints, or anything else on the thing. I can't even tell you how to install the battery. I can tell you where to look for it. But I can't tell you how to remove or install it. Same goes for the headlights, seat.. seriously, I can't even tell you how to put gas in the thing. I can tell you how to read that novel that came with it that will tell you how to do most of this! It's called the manual and it should have been in a baggy attached to the seat.

No, I can't tell you how to change the lint trap on the dryer. Nor can I tell you how to attach the vent hose, remove change from the drum, fix the belt or even if the transmission is toast. You can, however, join Mr. Lawn Tractor in reading the manual for all that!

No... I cannot tell you how to install the ice tray in your fridge. I don't even care if it's the type you fill with water and shove in there. Nor can I tell you how to install the shelves, hose for the automatic ice maker, nor the flap for the in door ice dispenser. I can't tell you how to remove the kick plate.. you may have to to find the model number.. but I can't tell you HOW.
You know what? There a book that tells you all that.. it's free and usually even comes with the fridge. It's called the manual! READ IT.

TV? Nope, can't tell you how it works. Can't tell you how to program the universal remote. No, I don't know if this particular model comes with X feature. No, I can't tell you how to wire your Playstation (one!) or SNES/Gamecube/VCR/Stereo/Whatever thing with blinking 00:00 lights you need hooked up. You wanna know why? I DON'T HAVE THE FUCKING MANUAL!!!!!!!!

*ahem* Pardon me. Apparently, I didn't bury it deep enough. Seriously, they'd ask me question that I couldn't answer due to a) liability, b) this is a job to repair stuff, not tell you how to do it yourself and c) I didn't have the answers to. We had a ton of electronics, each of which were special snowflakes that required their own codes/set ups.. and all of that was in the first thing thrown out by people upon opening their containing box. The manual.

[Latekin]

Worst part is when they think they have a really clever way of persuading you. Like the lady who, when I told her I wasn't giving her instructions on how to rewire a lighting fixture because she could literally die if she screwed up, told me "well you all teach people how to use drills and stuff all the time! They're dangerous too!"

Me: "Yes ma'am they are, but you don't need a license to use powertools, and using a drill incorrectly will not simultaneously result in your death and a raging housefire that may take the neighborhood out."

[Racket_Man]

Me: "Yes ma'am they are, but you don't need a license to use powertools, and using a drill incorrectly will not simultaneously result in your death and a raging housefire that may take the neighborhood out."

Ya wanna make a bet on that????? Some of the dummies I have come across could start WWIII with a misused powertool.

[Latekin]

Yeah, but I have to believe that those aren't the people I'm dealing with. We had a guy start a fire over here with a grinder, I think it was. You're not supposed to use them in the middle of Summer, outside, near piles of dry eucalyptus debris that hasn't been cleared for years on end...because fun fact, eucalyptus is explosively flammable! Guess who nearly burned a whole damn suburb down when sparks caught alight?

Guess it just comes down to the fact I'm hoping most of my customers aren't that aggressively stupid. Hoping like hell.

[AccountingDrone]

Telex machines. I had heard of them, but never seen them.

ROFLMAO - way back when the world was in beta test I worked at a company that also cross trained me to work a switchboard they had a telex machine. [this was back in 1976] until I convinced my dad to move me out into the factory and I ended up becoming an inside/outside mechanic =)

SO, theoretically, I can list PBX operator as one of my diverse office skills, though a telex is dead easy to operate - running the paper tape after punching it is interesting - those damned things are LOUD!