Modern Vespa

Ugh…the clueless "who, me?" response is what always gets me. I sometimes point a finger and nod my head vigorously, working very hard not to use stronger verbal/sign language... Having suffered this sort of thing twice (but luckily didn't have to leave the bike on its own), I hope all gets sorted quickly and properly. I'd also like to know what went wrong with your ride, since mine conked out about a month back on account of a defective fuel pump.

In the US, Vespa dealers can look up your scooter by Vin number to see if it's covered by the fuel pump recall. This affects 150's too.

Twirling fingers pissing me off BEYOND belief. Those animated avatars need to go. I am hitting click right now and banning anybody who has any animated avatars.

I was expecting my broken down GTS to be brought home Monday or Tuesday so when Wednesday came I rang the recovery firm to find out where it was. They told me it was being delivered that same day, got home no scooter so rang them yesterday and apparently the recovery vehicle that was to bring my scooter home had "broke down!


It may turn up today but then again.....

Maybelline, the chicken. The first one to wake up and the last one to go to bed. I have had to live with her for months. Well Maybelline must have been on something last Monday because I missed my dermatologist appointment because she was passed out.

That I received yet another ticket for going 36 mph in a 25 mph zone. Not the fact that I got the ticket really, but that an increasing number of motorcycles (and cars) around here have obliterated license plates (or simply missing in the case of PTWs) and ride and drive at very unsafe speeds and in an unsafe manner with seemingly no enforcement.

A while ago I was waiting at a traffic light and a sports bike pulled up next to me. The rider got off, folded his license plate over and proceeded through the red light. Just one example of what I see daily.

Two of the rollers I ordered are not moving freely. You can see why.

Sigh...reminding me of my nighttime fiasco a year ago when, while trying to avoid getting rear-ended, I ran afoul of a red-light camera, and since I'm the sort who keeps his plate nice and legible, of course I got tagged by my former Fair City. Certainly feel your pain here.

Today? Had to get up very early (for me, anyway), and move Thelonica from her usual perch between our house and our neighbors to the left, as they were having all their siding stripped off and replaced - a crazy-messy job. That was, at worst, a minor annoyance: what really got me and Le Wife out of our chairs was the sloppiness of the crew rolling a huge dumpster in the shared driveway, grinding its way across our pavers. "That'll power-wash right out", one of the crew laconically stated. Neither of us was convinced, or amused. (UPDATE: Looks like they somehow undid nearly all the cosmetic damage just now )

Was running late to work this morning, and also wanted breakfast. Normally I'd have stopped by Taco Cabana and picked up a couple of Chorizo & Bean & Cheese breakfast tacos. I didn't want to be later than I already was, so I figured I'd get a breakfast burrito from the Cafe. I have just under $8 on my account there, and next week we're moving my office from this building to one that's about 10 miles away, so I need to use it up fairly soon.

I walk in to my office, and all I smell is the lovely scent of bacon wafting from the cafe around the corner.

I head over there, walk in, and the staff member looks at me and says, "no more hot breakfast today."

Los Angeles County Recorder

I needed to record a "covenant and agreement" for some rain barrels that are required for an ADU we are building.

First, get it signed and notarized. OK.

Then, take it to the County office to have it recorded and to get a certified copy to take to the Sanitation Department.

I get to the County office only to be told that I need an appointment.

Nowhere on the form or on the County website does it say anything about an appointment.



My issues with the rain barrels in another post.

Mrs. Mpfrank and I are building an ADU on our property. We plan to move into it to simplify our lives and our daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter will move into the main house, saving them on rent (though they will be paying their part of the expenses) and building equity for when they inherit. They will also be around to help us out as we get older. And we get to be a daily part of our granddaughter's life.

So what's pissing me off?

The city requires that we install four 55-gallon rain barrels to capture run-off from the roof.

Now I am very much in favor of saving water, since I know we live in a drought-prone area and it's only likely to get worse. But this just does not seem like a very good solution to the problem.

The barrels only hold 220 gallons. The conservation goal in this area is to limit water usage to 80 gallons per day per person. There will be five of us. 220 gallons is less than one day's allotment.

It rarely rains here, so the barrels will only be filled a few times each year.

The money would be much better spent on other water-saving projects, such as drip watering, drought-resistant landscaping, permeable hardscape, etc. instead of four, huge, ugly barrels.

If I am wrong about this, please someone tell me so I can feel better about it.

The idea behind the rain barrel requirement likely has to do with water run off management. While it may not rain often, taking the load of sewers and other water infrastructure is important.

I get that.

Ten years ago I put in a deep rock-filled dry creek and routed all the run-off into it so that it would be held and seep into the ground. That area is being replaced with by ADU. Apparently it's not a current option.

Okay hate to sound dumb, but what is an ADU?

Guess there is at least one advantage to living in the Northeast!

No shortage of water here, actually all the hot water in our house is sourced from rain water off the roof collected in a cistern in the basement. The main reason is due to our well being drilled something like 100 feet down through limestone it is shall I say "a bit" on the hard side! Enough that before getting the cistern hooked up the first electric heater only lasted a couple years. And actually this year there have been a few time I was worried the 3 1/2 over flow pipe was not going to keep up during a couple heavy down pours!

Additional Dwelling Unit. AKA 'Granny flat'.

Actually, "Accessory Dwelling Unit"

Would the garage count as that if I do something to upset SWMBO?

Yesterday they came in the lab with a new water cooler (soon to be installed). They are eliminating the water bottle fed water dispensers in favor of line fed. So city water.

On top of that, the net nannys have blocked YouTube. For Pete's sake, I was on season 3 of Taxi!

Buncha Nazis.

"Can I pay the fine here sir"
❤️🇲🇽 at least they don't pretend

So my move from the Copy Center to the main shop is in process. All of my printers and computers have been moved, all that's left are the tables, shelves, and some boxes.

I was given a key to my area (we keep the diploma stock there, and it is required to be in a secure location). I mentioned to the office manager that our boss (who is retiring next month) gave me his key to the room, and that all I need now is a key to the restroom. She said, "that's a women-only restroom, you can't have a key." I said we'd discuss it later (I was on the phone and the technicians were in the room).

Here's the thing, I take medication for high blood pressure, and it has a diuretic in it. The nature of that diuretic is such that I'll be fine, then the next moment I will HAVE to find a bathroom. It's not a slow build over time. I can't wait for an elevator, or have to worry about heading down a flight or two of stairs, especially when there's a restroom 30 feet away.

And it's not marked WOMEN ONLY. It's not marked at all. It could be a closet for all anyone walking by would know (water closet?).

On the bright side, our Bindery Manager has submitted a request with the Custodial Supervisor to have a key made for me, bypassing the office manager completely.

If she ever says anything about me using it, I will let her know that, 1. it's a medical necessity, and I can get a doctor note to HR if she really wants me to go that route, and 2. it's gender discrimination.

If it's a locked restroom why can't anybody use it?

Good question.

I think that, historically, there were only ever women working on this floor, and it's the only restroom on this floor.

And stereotypically speaking, men tend to not be as careful with the restroom as women. They may have just had it set up the way it is out of habit. I've used it before, when I borrowed the (male) manager's keys, and no one else was on this floor. No one ever knew, so nothing was ever said.

The only issue I can see possibly arising would be accessing it when it is occupied. I may have to create an "OCCUPIED" sign or something for it.

So far I've only seen one other person working on this floor, the office manager. And she should be working at her main desk on the first floor, anyway.

Man, if only you knew someone with access to a print shop ...

Wrong outer pulley provided by a retailer/supplier... but that's been sorted (correct one now on its way)...

...but having to re-clean everything after already getting it perfectly spick and span is annoying. This time, I got brake-clean in my eyes. 😂

Where's the fridge? I need beer.

Ps Not sure who is to blame, but this would NEVER have happened with car parts? Why do scooters parts have such lax treatment? Hmm.

That's a crying shame. Sounds like a typical case of two steps forward and one step back.

Yes, there were tears, and I did stumble forwards and backwards after getting it in my eyes.... can't remember how many steps though. 🤣

Made me think of this ...

Time to sound like an old man:

Local MC service station has always had communication issues, but I needed new tires for my bike.
I called, no answer.
Left VM, no response.
Rode out to the site to schedule work, they had to order the tires, said they'd be there in 2 days. They'd call me when they came in.
1 week later, no calls.
Called once, no answer
Left VM, no response
Called again, no answer
Left VM again, no response
Went to the site. they said the tires had been there for a few days.
I said: "You guys do good work at a reasonable price. Just please answer your phone or voicemails."
The rep (if his drivers license says 21 it's fake) escalates with, hey, I'm busy, don't you seem me running around? I can't answer the phone!
I reminded him that just a text after the voice mail would have been great...

Anyway, now I've got to worry that they're not going to tighten my nuts or something because I wanted a response to my calls.

Seriously, do they think that having to come on site to get answers is acceptable? I may never know when the service is done now!

Sorry, end of rant. I'm also having delays for refrigerator and air conditioning service right now so I'm thinking that service is dead!

🤣🤣🤣 Love it!

I note, after the pandemic issues, many places have forgotten who the customer is. I even had this at my Lexus service - I asked the gentleman "who's the customer here?".

I guess pent up demand went to some peoples' heads slightly.... and trying to keep up with demand means that can't/won't play nice sometimes.

Give it a few months, and those sorts of places will go back to being nice. 😉

When I first started working retail when I was 21, the Manager told us that answering the phone was a priority over helping customers in the store. His reasoning was that the customers were already there, the ones who were calling weren't, and by answering the phone, we had a higher chance of getting them into the store.

I had that happen to me while waiting in line at a store (Maplins Kingston UK) a few years ago - so I phoned up while in line, ordered my few parts 'to go', then went to the front and collected them. That store's policy changed that day after the little 'discussion' that ensued.

Nice maybe, but I don't think service is going to get any better. Skilled workers are moving on to easier, better paying or less stressful jobs.

Getting halfway through the "how to overhaul your shimano pedals" youtube before the guy pulls out the special reassembly tool you need that costs more than the pedals.


Somehow managed to get things back together nicely with a lot of luck. Not game enough to try the second pedal though.

I was impressed 15 years ago when my son took his first job at Trader Joes: The manager said whatever you're doing, if a customer asks you where something is, you stop what you're doing and you walk the customer to the product, then return to your task. This advice has served him better throughout all his jobs than anything I taught him in 18 years.

lomunchi,

Many of us have been fortunate to work for someone who
took an interest in us enough to provide those nuggets of
wisdom that helped move us along to success.

Despite this, I expect you provided your son with the work
ethic and motivation to take advantage of this experience.

I give your son's accomplishments first to you - Dad.

Bob Copeland

mpfrank wrote:
Actually, "Accessory Dwelling Unit" In that case, it would be called a "Canine Dwelling Unit".

The catchphrase here is "Every door is the right door". So whoever you first approach will either solve your problem or deliver you to someone who can.