wimmuskee
NormanDunbarIf you think that your job is pointless, just remember, there are people in Germany fitting indicators to BMWs.
Well! That joke took off with a bang! My phone's been going nuts. π
Wen@NormanDunbar As a driver of a BMW (a 6 year old BMW electric i3 and excellent it has proven) mypartner was only semi joking when she asked whether it had mirrors and indicators!
@Wen I like your partner already! π
@NormanDunbar She loved the car, as a practical vehicle which as an easy to drive automise was invaluable when she had hip surgery. Not to mention the cost of running. The logo, not so much.
@Wen Aye hips are buggers for clutch usage. My set father had two sets of replacement hips.
Sounds like the BMW was just what she needed.
Abram Kedgeπ΄σ §σ ’σ ³σ £σ ΄σ Ώπ¨π¦@NormanDunbar When I picked up a set of wheels with winter tyres for my little electric clown car, I realised that it would take a complete wardrobe makeover and about four litres of fake tan to even become visible to an assistant at a New York State BMW dealership.
@AbramKedge Aye. MrsD fancied a BMW X5 (don't ask!) years ago. We were completely ignored in the showroom for over 30 minutes. Nobody else there.
Our local Honda dealer made us welcome, dealt with all our questions and sold us an ex demonstrator CRV with 800 miles on the clock for over 8 grand off the list price.
We are returning customers.
@NormanDunbar I'm happy my last ever car was a five year old electric. I kept it for a further three years before selling it when I moved back to the UK.
It was a grand little car - but never loved by BMW. The key engineers left to join other manufacturers.
I never considered myself a BMW driver π
Hedders@AbramKedge @NormanDunbar donβt worry, the real weapons-grade bellends have moved on from BMW. They drive Teslas now.
@hedders @NormanDunbar I have a little sympathy for the Tesla owners who sunk their savings into a vehicle while Musk was mostly hiding the crazy.
But then I think of my dad's neighbour, who ripped up the fence and moved it a fair distance into my dad's garden to give themselves a wider driveway. They waited until he was spending a few weeks with us after my mum died. Yeah. What a complete and utter Tesla driver.
He had to move it back again and pay all legal fees after I found archival Street View photos showing the original position. Still a cit of a bunt. Pretends he can't see you if you pass in the street.
@AbramKedge @hedders There are some truly ignorant people around. I despair!
Jake in the desert@hedders @AbramKedge @NormanDunbar true for both Teslas and BMWs. There's an old joke about BMWs, it applies to Tesla drivers too.
"What's the difference between a BMW driver and a porcupine?"
"On a porcupine, the pricks are on the OUTSIDE."
ππ€£
@jake4480 @hedders @NormanDunbar in my defense, I once drove a 7.5 tonne Ford Cargo through a flood and unexpectedly met a BMW coming the other way. It wasn't my fault the driver had his window down.
Chuckles@AbramKedge @NormanDunbar also was an i3 driver, great little car, the dealers screwed us on a minor repair and I look forward to BMW being a retired sub-brand of BYD in ten years.
@celeduc @NormanDunbar I'll second that. BMW are all about gouging their customers.
@AbramKedge @celeduc Have you heard that they are now fitting some cars with a bolt where the head recess is shaped like their logo. You must buy a BMW special tool to remove/refit them. At huge cost of course.
Absolutely no need for there to be any special headed bolts at all, but ....
@NormanDunbar @AbramKedge having exhausted all of the fuckery they could using copyright and patent law, now they're digging into trademarks as their last enshittification bazooka
@NormanDunbar @celeduc my 91 year old dad would knock up a widget for that in about twenty minutes π (started his working life as an instrument maker).
@AbramKedge @celeduc I could probably hack it in an emergency too, I was a Honda bike mechanic and also a "marine engineer" in a past life. π
In about two months, there will be complete kits for these bolts, on Temu!
Piranhallama@NormanDunbar @AbramKedge @celeduc I'm convinced that anyone who has worked on motor vehicles will be able to create a tool for absolutely any purpose before you've even finished explaining the problem to them.
WulfyβSpeaker to the machines@securedllama @NormanDunbar @AbramKedge @celeduc
I miss the days when "Toolmaker" was an actual trade π₯²
John E Bartley III (D) K7AAYπ@NormanDunbar @AbramKedge @celeduc
Already seen such.
I like my Schwinn.
Noxy πΎπ³οΈβπ@celeduc @AbramKedge @NormanDunbar another former i3 owner here, that thing was so great and so much fun to drive!
Plausible Human Being@noxypaws @celeduc @AbramKedge @NormanDunbar
I'm in the process of trying to buy a newer second BMW i3 online right now. My first one is a 2014 base and I'm tired of worrying about being able to get home if I run the heat or AC. Not sure what to do with the 2014. Might sell it to Carvana. Might strip Everything out of it and convert an old pickup truck to electric.
@NormanDunbar @noxypaws @celeduc @AbramKedge
I've been contemplating what to do about the rear end of the restomod electro pickup truck for quite a while until I remembered the name of a Frenchman - De Dion - who was responsible for invention of a tubular rear axel that would work just fine in this situation.
@LovingFalloutLondon1954 @noxypaws @celeduc @NormanDunbar the battery may be useful if you have solar panels or if you can take advantage of off-peak electricity tariffs?
My 2015's battery was *almost* down to the level for a warranty replacement. OTOH, the efficiency was at least double what you'd get from a Tesla - I don't blame you looking for another.
@AbramKedge @noxypaws @celeduc @NormanDunbar
I do have a few solar panels. That is another option to consider.
My house has a clay tile roof. More solar panels on the roof would normally not be a problem except that the roofer NAILED the clay tiles down with #6 galvanized common nails. They're rusting through 50 years later and I occasionally find a tile slid down. I'd have to rework the entire roof with screws before I could put panels over them. Too old for this and maybe too poor.
@AbramKedge Years ago, I worked as a marine engineer (I fixed outboard and inboard boat engines) in Inverness.
One of our customers was a right scruffy gent. I treated him like all the rest, he had a boat and an engine so he obviously had a huge mortgage or loads of cash.
My boss asked me afterwards if I knew the customer. I didn't, so he told me. Iain Anderson of Jethro Tull.
Never judge a book by the cover!
@NormanDunbar that's awesome, is a great attitude to have. After dropping out of uni, I spent five years working in international moving. I met all sorts - from East end gangsters, through to the ambassador for the Ivory Coast, and Lord and Lady McDonald (twice) ((she was lovely, and was absolutely paranoid that someone might throw away her fragrant hickory twigs)).
And then there were the people I worked with, some very rough and ready, some who'd surprise you, intelligent problem solvers who just decided that they liked a job where they were left to do things the way they thought best.
The big lesson I learned was to listen - no matter what my first impressions, everyone has something that was worth hearing.
@AbramKedge This is so true.
gary@NormanDunbar they are making like 49/hr too
Jon@NormanDunbar what is an "indicator" in this context? Maybe this is country-specific terminology?
draeath@oddhack @NormanDunbar blinker or turn-signal
@oddhack Indicators ard what I think Americans call turn signals. In the UK, they are orange coloured flashing lights to indicate the direction you intend to turn at X junction and so forth.
HTH
@NormanDunbar thanks! In the Former US, not using turn signals was not specific to the fanciness of your vehicle, AFAICT. Happy to be in Europe and not need a car, now :-)
@oddhack You are welcome. Especially as it means someone else now gets my joke! ππ
Owl Eyes@NormanDunbar an #autistic person driving a BMW will signal, so occasionally it's not a waste.
@d1 I know. I saw one doing exactly that today. π
canleaf08β
ε ζΏε€§θε π³οΈβπβ§οΈπͺπΊπ@NormanDunbar Even these people soon have an Abfindung...
mossman@NormanDunbar very good...
Jez DuBois π
@technothrasher Brilliant! πππ
Wokebloke for Democracy
Knut π³οΈβπ π³π΄π§Έ@technothrasher @NormanDunbar It's true. I'm a VW driver. And VW drivers have always driven VWs. And....manual transmissions are the default (except in their pitiful SUVs which aren't even real VWs). And you can tell who owns a mid-life crisis BMW and has never driven a stick. They'll race us. And nearly take out everyone around them. NOTHING is more dangerous, including nukes, than a new stick driver in a BMW.
JustKathyAnd in Japan, fitting indicators to Toyotas. Or has Toyota made indicators optional instead of being standard equipment?
TrickTim@NormanDunbar
Oh my god, yes!
Oh my god, yes!
Will@NormanDunbar
ππΌ
ππΌ
Alex 
@NormanDunbar All that blinker fluid gone to waste!
@AncTreat5358 It's all done with smoke, mirrors and electronic sorcery these days! π
tiddy roosevelt@NormanDunbar I opted to buck the trend. To make up for a seeming lack of indicators in BMWs, I had a second switch installed in mine this year.
I can indicate twice!
@babe ππππ
Tricot Feelya@NormanDunbar there are telephone booth cleaners and fortune cookie writers out thereβ¦
cognitively accessible math@NormanDunbar
"fitting indicators" I had to look that up :P
"fitting indicators" I had to look that up :P
@geonz Turn signals? Blinkers?
Perhaps.
@NormanDunbar Yes, I had to glean it from context but we call 'em "turn signals" and they're not used enough ;)