Modern Vespa

Another Professional Rugby team in England (Although actually in Jersey) has gone into liquidation. This follows 3 other teams including my team Wasps that have gone under in the last year.


Professional and Semi Professional Rugby Union in England is in a Sh1t state.

That's because no one one watches it.

Because it's rubbish.

Just bought wiper blades from a nearby auto parts store...had a bit of sticker shock, but I reminded myself it's not 1980 andquality is way up from that time.

Decided to check online...and price was 30% over Amazon and 20% above the parts store across the street.

I like doing business locally most of the time, but I think I'll be checking online first from now on.

Another day another cunt trying to kill me.

I turned at an intersection (single turning lane into single lane street) and during the turn a big black suv beeps at me. Once I straighten up I flick my finger at him over my shoulder as I glance in my mirror and see he's pretty close.

He then responds by entering the bike lane to get up right beside me. We are still in a single lane road doing 45-50kph. Fuck! He then gets back behind me.

At a red light 50m down the road I pull up and twist around while still sitting and say (not yelling but a a clear volume) "fuckwit" or some such. He then asks why I stuck my finger up and I respond it's because he beeped at me. He then claims I was wandering all over the road to which I say no I wasn't. Maybe he had zero comprehension about the way bikes turn corners (start on the outer and hit the apex etc). He then opens his door and starts climbing out yelling at me to pull over ie to fight. I turn back forwards see the light go green and take off happy that it's over.

Arsehole. By the look of him I couldn't help but think 'roid rage

Thanks for that classy and well articulated response

You're welcome. Thank you for calling.

No one watches Women's Soccer for the very same reason.

$672 USD to replace the car battery.

I was willing to dismantle half the engine bay's cosmetic covers to get the battery out, but did not want to shell out the $$ for diagnostic tool to 'register and code the battery with the car.'

I'm sure with research I could have either obtained the tools for less, found an app or a workaround, but I just want to pull out the old battery, properly dispose at local autoparts store while acquiring new battery, and install new battery.

Which car is this ?

I had a feeling this one was going to peak your curiosity, Bill.

2018 BMW X2.

Yeah, Sorry I didn't jump in sooner.

Forgive me if you already are gauging this but the Manufacturers don't really want you working on your own car and this a way of making life difficult so you just have to go back to the workshop and pay them lots of money.

That is a stupid amount of money. Sorry Buddy.

I like BMW but when things go wrong they really go wrong.

This is basically what the repair shop told me. It wasn't even the dealer service center.

I also had a flashback to the salesperson at BMW snickering at me when I declined the extended service plan when we bought the car, informing him, 'I enjoy tinkering with cars and will like to do some of the work myself!'

I'm going to make a suggestion and that's that people shouldn't buy new cars and motorcycles.

I think that customers should stick with what they have and switch to using smaller cheaper independent workshops whose number will grow as owners move away from the larger Franchises.

Granted there will always be people out there that will moan about the initial cost of the vehicle and the subsequent servicing cost but still buy the item but if less and less owners went back to the dealer post warranty the Manufacturers would soon wake up as just how much customers are feeling they are getting ripped off.

Having said that Dealerships are incredibly expensive to run and the major brands often make life very difficult for the Franchisee but people will become very jaded if these kind of costs continue to increase.

Edit - This next bit is really going to piss you off. Not only has the Dealer taken all of your money in advance for your Service Plan but the Franchise has also had a back hander ( Sorry, Incentive ) from the Manufacturer for selling them to you.

As less and less money can be made on new vehicles they are inventing more and more ways to reclaim that loss.

I can talk more about this if you wish.

Agree.

When I picked up the car at the local/independent shop, we went over future BMW recommended and essential services... and their associated costs. Ooof.

When purchasing this car, the high cost of service/repair was considered. I underestimated the types of services the car would require with long-term ownership. Way more than just expecting an expensive timing belt replacement on the horizon or some other larger service.

Maybe own this car for another year, sell it and buy an old bone.

Good thing the other vehicle is a Toyota Tacoma which will most likely outlive me.

I was unhappy about my Subaru breakdown...
until I heard about my Vespa guru's problem !

He and his wife went to a show while I was away.
When he got back to his car, someone had stolen both his Mercedes' headlights !

They could have just silently unclipped the connections, but instead, the thieves cut through the wiring harness behind the connection. To replace the wiring harness, the ENTIRE interior of the car has to be removed to route the wiring harness along the original route...

As the cutting of the wiring harness was done while the battery was still connected, the resulting short-circuits fried a number of seriously costly electronic components.

My Vespa guru is in the motor re-finishing trade, so he was able to source used replacement parts and sections of used wiring loom from a rear-ended wreck of a similar model. However, the fried electronic components are security coded to his car's VIN, so he had to source those replacements from Daimler-Benz in Germany.

Even with his contacts and used parts, the cost was about 35% of the cost of a new car.

I am pissed at the scumbags who cause such financially devastating damages for the sake of two headlights !

VWs are the same way, new battery has to be "coded" to the car.

When we both drove TDIs, i picked up a VCDS cable for the price of a single fuel filter replacement at the dealership (done every other oil change), and it has paid for itself about 50 times over with all the stuff we've been able to DIY.

As for the battery coding? All you're doing is changing the serial number of the installed battery so the car knows a new one is there. That's it.

And I though broken glass for smash and grabs was bad enough.

As for me....I've ranted in the past about having played outdoors as a kid without a care in the world....sunburnt, bug-bitten, but seemingly safe. ....until skin cancer, Lyme's Disease and West Nile virus showed up.

So, just called an old friend after hearing that his wife was in the hospital with West Nile. Sounds like it was ghastly. Started with a day of vomiting, then after her husband convinced her to to to the hospital, she collapsed and had an ambulance ride instead. Nearly 2 weeks before being released to another facility.

The virus only came to this state 20 years ago, less than a dozen diagnosed cases per year (most cases asymptomatic so hard to count), but still, I'm going to be a lot less lazy about mosquito repellent.

Interestingly, my friend retired from the university having spent his career researching stuff like this, and his thought processes were slightly ahead of the medial team's.....

I had been telling myself that the only new car I would consider is a C8 Corvette but after reading these I think I would rather have a C2.

I bought my last new car in 1987 (an Izusu Trooper II). After that it's been used cars only. A late-model used car purchased from a rental company or CarMax is a good buy, IMHO. They only sell the cars that are in good condition and the price is much less than new.

Interestingly, both our current cars, a 2013 Mazda 3 from Enterprise Rent-a-Car and a 2019 Hyundai Santa Fe from CarMax, are what I would call sub-base models. They are missing features that even the base models at dealers have. In the case of the Mazda, manual roll-up windows. The Santa Fe is missing the ability to select shift modes (Sport, Comfort, Eco, whatever). I didn't realize this when I bought them, but it really hasn't been an issue.

They're still good cars. The Santa Fe has all of the available safety features like automatic emergency braking, lane assist, back-up cross-traffic and pedestrian warning, etc. No other manufacturer has all these features on every car they make. It also has all-wheel drive. The Mazda is a kick to drive and very economical. And they both have the ability to switch to clutch-less manual shift.

And if I need a new battery, I can just go to Wal-Mart, buy one, and put it in.

Scooters are a different matter, though. Two new ones and one used from the dealer with less than 1000 miles on it.

currently shopping dashcams

I use a chin-mount gopro when I ride (bought a hero 8 a few years ago before going swimming with otters). Have dashcams in both of the Golfs.

Although I have one, short battery life etc is why i don't consider it a solution for me.

That's entirely fair; I'm sure there's some way to rig up something on top of the headset that can be plugged in via usb or something.

Over the winter I'm sure my ADHD will have me hyperfixate on it and I'll plan some ridiculously over-the-top solution I never follow through on.

My new health insurance is making me and my doctor jump through hoops to get medications covered.

Two of them require Prior Authorization to be covered. One of them was denied because my doctor's nurse submitted it with in incorrect diagnosis, which wasn't covered. So now we have to resubmit it with the correct diagnosis.

The other one is my ADHD med. I had run out because I forgot that we were going to increase the dosage if the first Rx didn't work, so he didn't issue a refill for it. It could also be that refills require new Rx's due to it being a controlled substance (not Adderall). Well, I went two weeks without it until it was finally approved. I haven't been able to focus properly at work. I end up hyperfocusing, which means only one thing gets done, instead of lots of things. But at least I have the meds now.

I also got my Substitute Teaching assignment. I will be subbing for an 8th grade science teacher tomorrow (Oct 4). Should be "fun."

Long range weather forecasts...and more so my wanting to belive them. Just looked ahead 10 days to a getaway weekend........

I see a parallel to medieval mapmakers.....given the unknown, they added unicorns and sea monsters....

Solar powered drone that follows you everywhere.

Boiler Repair £380.00

Just won £300.00

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231004777364/en/Yahoo-Spins-Out-Vespa-Its-Enterprise-AI-Scaling-Engine-as-an-Independent-Company

I object most strenuously! We was here long before these johnny-come-lately wise asses.

Piaggio C&D in 3... 2... 1...

it's fuel pump will fail or the abs

and once again yahoo demonstrates why they'll be gone or bought and dismantled in short order.

Crafter's produce Vespa IPA without any Piaggio C&D - it's even on tap in the Roebuck, my local in the UK!

Probably known on the same global scale as Yahoo too.

Did my Substitute Teaching stint yesterday. Turns out it was 7th grade Science class (they were learning Cell Theory). The teacher I was subbing for is a Golf enthusiast, and took yesterday, today, and tomorrow off to be an official at the LPGA tournament going on this week at The Old American Golf Club in The Colony, TX.

There were five 75-minute class periods in the day. I had four classes - 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 5th periods. I'd estimate that about 1/3 of each class did not speak English. Most were English/Spanish bilingual, and all but one of the non-English speakers spoke only Spanish. The one exception only spoke Arabic. To help her I used the Translate app on my iPhone, and it worked really well. I also used the app with the few Spanish-only students that had questions requiring more detail, and it also worked well.

First period wasn't bad, 19 total students, they generally behaved and worked on the worksheets provided. I know they got away with some things their regular teacher wouldn't have allowed, but since they weren't getting rowdy, I didn't mind.

Second period was a little more rambunctious than 1st, and there were about 22 students. But they did the work, so it was fine.

Third period is when the gates of Hell opened and Satan released his demon spawn into the school.

That class would NOT settle down. They were to have class for the first half of the period, then go to lunch, then have class for the last half. It took all of the first half for me to get attendance taken and figure out who wasn't there. Then I walked them to the cafeteria for lunch, and left them to eat. I had to go back after 30 minutes to escort them back to class. That's when the problems really started. I was essentially losing control, but the Hall Monitor was my savior. She came in and used her Teacher Voice to get them to sit down and be quiet. She sent two boys to the office for discipline, and the rest of the class got to work.

Fourth period was my "Prep Period," so she hung out with me for 20-30 minutes talking about the situation. She was horrified to learn that I am not a teacher. She said she had to go out and patrol the halls, but said she'd be back at the start of 5th period to help make sure things went better.

Fifth period was the best class of the day. Half of them got their spiral notebooks from the shelf as they entered the room, without having to be told to get them. They all sat in their assigned seats. I was able take attendance in 5 minutes. The Hall Monitor joined as I was starting to explain the assignment for the day, which I had already distributed. She added to my explanation that if they completed all the work, we'd play a game before the end of the class. And she reiterated it in Spanish. Once they got settled in, she left to patrol. I ended up circulating through the room, and spent most of my time near the table with a group of boys that looked like they'd try to cause problems, which kept them in check. She came back with about 20 minutes to go in the class, and saw that the students were working, and helped get them finished up for the day.

It was an experience.

The only things that pissed me off about it are (1) the school administration did not know that I am not a teacher. All the staff & teachers who saw me thought I was an actual trained substitute teacher, and were shocked/horrified/upset to learn that I am not. And (2) we (support staff required to be substitutes) have not been given any training on how to handle a class. I'm going to look into suggesting that, if they're going to continue this program (which I'm sure they are), they provide some sort of training for us. Things like, how to deal with an unruly class, how to reduce the chances that they become unruly, etc.

Dropped into my local Used Motorcycle Dealer this afternoon to order a bike for next year and there was an older Gentleman selling a Honda VTR 1000 Firestorm which is on my list of bikes I'd like to own.

It was very well maintained, in good condition and stupidly cheap.

Arse.

That is all.

I have often thought the best way to deal with an unruly class would be to show them this clip...

and then tell them that now we are going to practice close order drill.

I probably would not last long as a substitute.

In my job as a union tradesman I had a friend get hurt pretty bad by a mag drill. It's a portable drill press that attaches to a steel beam or plate with a magnet and it is used to drill holes in steel. If the damn thing becomes unplugged or loses power for any reason it becomes very dangerous and it tries to kill you.

The bits are very expensive...

https://www.mscdirect.com/product/details/03341773?cid=ppc-google-&mkwid=%7cdc&pcrid=&rd=k&product_id=03341773&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIm_e18p_fgQMV39HCBB0MNwYoEAYYCSABEgIzBfD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

and so whenever I am on a job and am given the task to drill holes with the mag drill I immediately destroy the bit (not hard to do) and then go back to the foreman with the broken bit and ask for another one.

If the foreman actually gives me another bit I am back in about five minutes with another broken bit. I have never been given a third bit

Sometimes I am fired sometimes I just get assigned another task but either way I don't have to use the mag drill any more.

I should probably add that the power sources on the types of jobs I work at are extremely unreliable and the likelihood of the mag drill coming loose and trying to kill you with a slow and painful death is probably greater than 50/50. All it takes is for one idiot to trip on an extension cord or overload a circuit that many workers are using and the drill is loose.

The point is don't ever do a job you don't like. Something else will turn up eventually that you are much better suited for.

Is this for touring? If so, check the tank range. (especially reserve)

Dude, I totally feel for you. Elementary—angels. Middle school (jr high) —demon spawn. HS is a mixed bag.

Monogodo,

Excellent report on the classroom. Problem enough with non-english speaking students when there is also a measure of unruly kids disrupting the class. Your shared experience kind of sums up the state of public education today.

1. I expect crowd control has always been a factor in teaching. But way different back in my day, when you were scared to death of your parents finding out you acted out in school. Call it respect for authority. It was actually being scared of actual consequences at home. So, I am going to lay the increased unruliness on the family unit falling gradually apart over the years.
2. There also seems to a big move to private schools from the stuff you experienced in one day.

Great report.

Bob Copeland

I owned one of these in the late 90's and didn't like it at all, only kept it a few months

But... if it is stupidly cheap then why not?

Bill Dog and others,

No loss in sales. They have to have that BMW/Benz thing going on. Marketing carrying the day. Big dose of "Imaging, Performance and Engineering", small dose of quality control.

I can not blame anyone. We have to have the Vespa thing. Higher priced with a measure of mechanical problems (even from the factory). But, I gotta have that Dragon Red GTS300 Super thing.

Bob Copeland