do you ever just refuse to deal with morrons at auto parts store counters?

Grumpy

The Grumpy Grease Monkey mechanical engineer.
Staff member
Maybe I,m just old and cranky , but I get up early today to mow the lawn and the mower shreds a drive belt, (the third one in three weeks) so I know somethings got to be wrong
,if theres one thing I can assure you of,
its that your rarely the first guy to screw something up or
the first guy to find a solution and you can usually find some info on something similar
on the internet if you look so I spend a bit of time looking and it gives me some ideas




I jump on the internet while the wife starts telling me,
It must be something I did wrong!
I must have installed the belt incorrectly,
I did not spend 35 years working as a mechanical engineer to be incapable of installing a damn fan belt,

, I resist the strong urge to choke her with whats left of the shredded mower belt ( the $%^&^&* diagrams on the #$$%%^&^&* mower deck , and its just not that complicated)
why is it every wife automatically seems to assume her husbands at fault when something around the house breaks???


"it must be those 3A.M. conference calls ALL THE OLDER WIVES, all attend where they compare our faults"

anyway I watch these two videos, get a few ideas,
and I go out to the shop and disassemble the mower and
after carefully inspecting it,
find a brackets bent that holds a idler wheel,and a weld that anchors the bracket to the deck, has broken loose, I can fix it fairly easily but I need a mild steel welding rod , the closest source the local auto parts store ...I jump in the car and I get there they have a 2 lb box clearly marked $30....am I reading that right??? 2 lbs $30..., I ask the manager , he apologizes, its a silly oversight the mild steel welding rods are $3 EACH.....
I resist the urge to tell him where he can stick his mild steel welding rods and drive 15 miles to the local welding supply, I explain what I need, the welding shop counter guy hands me 4 welding rods of the type I need (I probably will need one) and says catch you next time and waves me toward the door, I thank him, but explain that its a fairly long drive back to the shop, and while I appreciate the gesture Ill buy 6 lbs of rods at $4 a lb
Gas-Tig-Rods.png

so I have a few in inventory and don,t have that problem next time, that way were both better off!
I get back to the shop and it takes me about 30 minutes to clamp and align , measure and weld the bracket, grind and paint , the bracket and 10 minutes to install a new belt I picked up at a different auto parts store, reassemble the mower and an additional 30 minutes to test that its running flawlessly
welding rods usually 36" long so 37" pipe with one end glued is not a bad idea


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I don't think you have a monopoly on this one Grumpy! :D

Anytime a lids on too tight, I get the blame.... all us Miller boys tighten the HELL out of everything!
 
Hey we're men, we were born stupid and at fault in anything where a woman is involved .
 
On another note, if you will keep your welding rods in a warm dry environment they give greater quality welds. Especially the stick rods that's have flux already on them, in which case before use if you will heat them to about 175-200 degrees F, they will take less amperage to weld and also produce the strongest weld metal.
 
Hey we're men, we were born stupid and at fault in anything where a woman is involved .
YEAH!
I ALWAYS FOUND IT RATHER AMAZING HOW MY WIFES ESTIMATE OF MY I.Q. DROPPED ABOUT 120 POINTS WHEN I GOT MARRIED


On another note, if you will keep your welding rods in a warm dry environment they give greater quality welds. Especially the stick rods that's have flux already on them, in which case before use if you will heat them to about 175-200 degrees F, they will take less amperage to weld and also produce the strongest weld metal.
THERES BEEN A FEW DAYS WHEN I THINK THE SHOPS FAST BEEN CLIMBING TOWARD THOSE TEMP LEVELS:D:rolleyes:
 
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