Be careful when sourcing parts locally

[MSeriesRebuild]

I'm 25, so, I'm right in that generation you guys are bagging on, and, youre right...

I'm one of the few of my age group that's pulled my shit together and has it working...

I'm a degreed engineer, with a home, and a stable relationship, I pay my taxes, don't drink, don't smoke, and, one sad fact, won't have kids. My parent's generation, as well as mine, has done a great job screwing everything up, so, I refuse to have them. It used to be the american dream was a good job, house, and family... now, thats the american requirement. Everyone thinks they're entitled to it, and they're NOT. This place is going down the tubes, and I refuse to subject my kids to it.

The biggest problem is personal responsibility. No one is responsible for anything they do any more...They pop a pill, or blame someone else, or sue someone, or ask for a hand out from the government. My fiancee and I bought a 100K dollar house... The bank approved me for 200K, but, I had more sense then they did, and knew I could only comfortably afford 1/2 that!! Unfortunately, most people expect others to think for them, and wont use their heads.

Another fact: Kids from foreign nations have alot more drive and ambition then most kids here. All of the Ph.D's, and Masters degreed kids are from somewhere else...

And, to make matters worse, you can't get any kind of job working with your hands without having some sort of certification. I tried to get a Job at a Jiffy lube once... pulled up in the M, with the V8 and drivetrian swap, 1/2 way through my engineering program, and, they refused, because I wasn't SAE certified... but, the grease monkey in there in the pit that doesnt know a box end wrench from a phillips screw driver has a slip of paper, so he's good to go...

Just my observations...

Your observations are spot on .

[Franz©]

I could take this one pages, but fortunately, arthritic fingers will save the readers. I'm an Old Fart, who started education in a 1 room school with 60+ kids 1 teacher 4 grades and that damn Palmer Perfect Pennmanship book.

I came back to the US in 71 from the other side of the globe, and spent a couple years trying to figure out what the hell was going on till a nice librarian spent a few hours talking to me and pointing me in directions where I could find the answers.

Most of my teachers had a High School Diploma followed by Normal School and a teaching license. They did NOT have a degree or a Union Card. By 71, they had for the most part been replaced by spineless pukes, purporting to be male, who had discovered they could extend their Draft Deferrment by becoming a public School Teacher, carrying a Union card. Much to their regrett, I have a damn good memory, and fully recall the crap they pulled in the early 70s, from "Professionalism" to Packet Learning purporting to teach a room containing no more than 30 kids, half of whomb believed there was little reason to learn because they were headed for the nam anyhow.

Lets also mention Lyndon Bullshit Johnson and his wonderful contribution to society AFDC, a/k/a No Spermdonor left Responsible. The land of the goodnight kiss had become the land of the goodnight hump by 1971 thanks to the Pill, and a hell of a lot of the so called "Parents" were tuning in turning on and taking off. As Daniel Patric Moynahan called it Defining Deviency Down. Of course since the Union "Teachers" were generally spaced out, not much got taught, and by 73 the NEA was negotiating its ass off to remove classroom discipline from the teacher's job description.

Oh yea, it gets better, "teachers" decided they were now professionals, and needed higher degrees, and managed to convince School Boards (see Twain's definition) the taxpayer should fund their advanced education. Since VietFNam was winding down and Colleges were loosing their main drawing card and overcapacity with empty buildings once again, the salesmen er I mean counselors decided to invent courses of study for Educators, and the Doctor of Education program came to be. Hell yes, 8 weeks in the classroom for 2 summers, read a few books, no damn dissertation to defend, and you get a fake doctorate. Brilliant, especially if somebody else is picking up the bill and you get paid to sit in class.

So, now you have your fake Doctor piece of paper on the wall, and your superior attitude, you need a better job than faking being a Teacher, especially since you're too dumb to teach a dog to crap on the grass. BINGO, back to the Board of Education and sell the program of Administration. More damn Doctors than a VD clinic, and none of them have the brainpower to change a flat tire.

And that's just the beginning, barely gets you to 1980.

Need we also cover the convenience of dopeing a room full of kids who are annoying the Union Teacher because they want to learn?

[Lifer]

You're preaching to the choir, here, Franz! I, too, started school with 4 grades in one room and one teacher who actually taught us something. Grades 5 through 8 were spent in a different room, also with one teacher who continued to teach us something.

My kids, on the other hand, were among the first to deal with strung out, draft-dodging teachers and "new math." My son is very intelligent, but he has "problems with authority" when those in charge know less than he does. He didn't graduate from high school, but finally got a GED after getting out of the Navy. My daughter, on the other hand, let her teachers' attitudes roll off her back and graduated with honors. Same school, same teachers. She was just better able to ignore the distractions and separate the wheat from the chaff, I guess.

My grand-daughter is currently excelling in her high school's advanced program, but if it's "advanced," I'm not sure I know what the term means any more. She was supposed to read "Great Expectations" in her Advanced English class over the last 3 weeks. If she actually read 20 pages of it, I would be very surprised. She spent all her "study time" at home sending text messages with her cell phone, but she scored over 90 on each quiz and got a 96 on the final test. How can you do that without reading the book????

I think a major part of the problem is that today's kids just absolutely HATE to read. My grandkids do not own a single book! To me, reading was (and still is) an enjoyable pastime.

[Franz©]

Lifer I have a stepvermine-male who graduated on high honor roll as an academic scholar who is too stupid to read an analog clock or a ruler and can't add 2+2 without a calculator.
The kids have a well developed countersystem to beat the system.
You don't need to read the book, there are web sites that enable you to avoid that inconvenience.

Check out ratemyprofessor.com Mom & Fad are breaking their ass to pay tuition and you are headed off to partyland er I mean college, so the world will beat a path to your door with $50- an hour job offers. I have another stepvermine who entered U Maryland as a Pre Vet student. She came out with a husband, a CDL a fat ass and a degree in wildlife management. That girl sat on her fat ass 7 years waiting for Bambi or Thumper to arrive at the door looking for a manager. The husband got smart and the CDL expired. She finally had to take a damn job selling subprime mortgages to military suckers.

Jefferson said the only way this nation would survve was with an informed intelligent electorate. The damn politicians sure figured out that didn't work for them and revised the system.

A few years ago the head crook in NY Education publicly stated the State was only obligated to provide a mediocher education, and they were doing a good job of that. Hell I figure it won't be long till the schoolbus hauls them directly from graduation to the Welfare Office. I'm old and I don't give a damn. There is no point in talking to the masses, we tried that in the 80s and got our hats handed to us. The chumps have been conditioned and we live among masses of fools. I now consider it my obligation to take advantage of the fools whenever possible. I might as well get my share.

[Lifer]

Well...we seem to have drifted WAY off topic, but it has been "fun." All I can say now is "I hear ya!" At least we now know WHY it pays to be careful when shopping for parts for our beloved trucks.

[Franz©]

MeaCulpa~ back tothe topic, Local NAPA inventory is 100% controlled by the owner of the local franchise. NAPA suggests only. The owner of the local store is the one who decides what to carry.

Yes, I did doublecheck with the owner of the store in town.

[MSeriesRebuild]

MeaCulpa~ back tothe topic, Local NAPA inventory is 100% controlled by the owner of the local franchise. NAPA suggests only. The owner of the local store is the one who decides what to carry.

Yes, I did doublecheck with the owner of the store in town.

This is true, it works both ways. 1 Example, our local store now carries a new line of worm drive hose clamps. A much better quality clamp than NAPA offers through the system & at a lesser cost to the end user. Price sells parts these days, CHEAP PRICE. All the local independant auto repair shops go whole hog for this, buy it cheap, figure the customer will not own the vehicle long enough for it to become an issue. They have a pretty good track record at this & in many cases it puts extra cash in the pocket of the local technician. They tell me this at NAPA all the time. Our situation here at M Series however is much different. Someone pays to have a truck restored to better than new condition, they never plan on letting it go before time for their estate sale. Using junky parts doesn't fly here, they will be right back to bite.