You might be right about that, but.... I figure that after I've been burned on a snow-blower, lawn mower, electric clothes drier, various electric hand tools (saws, screwdrivers, drills, soldering iron), house roofing job, stripped wheel studs with a lost wheel on a routine tire replacement ...after a history like that, not to mention two (successful) lawsuits in small claims court (roof and wheel studs) ... after a history like that, I figure that it is best to assume that all "Craftsman" tools are likely to become "crapsman" at a moments notice along with appliances and most other products.
Sears was sued in a number of states, NY/NJ f'sure, for fraud in their auto repair division. And they are *still* f****ng the public, just not as violently. It would seem, after what would appear a devastating PR brouhaha, that bidniss went right back to normal, right quick. Which means the effing public is apparently quite used to the presence of sizable inserted objects, and if perchance one is removed, they just stay bentfuknover, cheeks spread, waiting for A New Object, often from the very same people who just de-inserted the Previous Object. Goodgawd... What person in their right mind would bring any car back to fuknSears??? Just on g-d GP????
I hate to bring it to this level, as I realize it is a sensitive subject for some, but it is revealing. After 9/11, the day after, wherever the dust cloud didn't quite sully the sidewalks beyond the perfunctory sweeping, yuppie muthafuckas were cafe-ing in their favorite oh-so hip haunts, pontificating their Socio-GeoPolitical Bullshit as usual, NYTimes in hand, just w/ slightly more focus this time around. Yeah, a'ight....
Yeah, bidniss was down in lower Manhattan, but not in the really hip joints. Mostly in Chinese restaurants. Proly just ordered Take-Out. And certainly bidniss was not sig'ly down in Midtown, muthafuckas!!!! Or Uptown!!! Gee, does a cupla fukn miles make that much of a diff?? Apparently so. Manhattan is only about 2x24 miles. Basically, no one *really* gave a crap about 9/11. Oh yeah, we talk shit, but basically it was a vehicle for.... LIP SERVICE, and chest-thumping.. And still is. Mostly Bush's chest-thumping. And billion-dollar huckstering But 9/11 didn't put a fukn dent in our must-have sidewalk cafes. Whatever you do, don't cramp our style, muthafuckas, don't cramp our style. And don't f*ck w/ our entertainment.
And there are even more graphic analogies one could make in WWII germany,
1600's Africa, I'm sure all over the world, all thru history. The (M)asses are just too ignerint, uncoordinated, and selfish to give a real f*ck. The 60's may have appeared to be a little different, but I wonder. Sheeeiit, I'da demonstrated my ass off if I knew there was some free reefer and nookie to go along with it all.... Unfortunately, I was even more poorly socialized then than I am now, iffin you can bleeve dat.... :)
The point being: So Sears *blatantly* fucks the public, and it's like it never fukn happened. Why? 1. Bec we are idiots, and 2. because Sears can still place full-page ads in any newspaper they want. We are doomed, positively doomed. My new invention, guaranteed $billion: Vaseline w/ an anaesthetic!! AND nonoxynol 9. :)
Bertrand Russell: Man's redemption will come only from cooperation. (I think I heard dat on LawnOrder or sumpn). What a rube he was!
=============== And as soon as the draft got "straightened out" [i.e. they didn't have to serve] the yuppie males at least left the demonstrations in droves.
Any one have a breakout by party of which pols did their stint in the military?
Unka' George (George McDuffee) .............................. Only in Britain could it be thought a defect to be "too clever by half." The probability is that too many people are too stupid by three-quarters.
John Major (b. 1943), British Conservative politician, prime minister. Quoted in: Observer (London, 7 July 1991).
You have to remember that most of the population has a room-temperature IQ and are barely able to remember how to work their TV remotes.
"Oooh, Sears is GOOD!" is about all they can store.
Plus people just don't care. For instance, a work acquaintance has an Accord, and he just paid $2,000 for a engine management computer, a transmission control module, etc. and about 4 weeks of "we can't figure it out"
Then he took it to an electrical place and they took 20 minutes to say "hey the relay that controls the power to the engine management computer, transmission control module, etc is bad!" and replace it.
Does he get upset that he got totally ass-raped by Honda? Not really.
I was kind of shocked at his level of "I don't care"
To be honest, I never gave a f*ck about 9/11. It was just used as an excuse and opportunity for the government to push through a lot of self-serving legislation and I knew it would be at the time.
So they blew up a couple of ostentatious and ugly buildings in NY. Who cares? I certainly don't. I didn't really care the first time they bombed them.
It's amazing that fifty years of Cold War didn't manage to Sovietize the US -- despite a few close calls -- but one successful terrorist attack has people enthusiastically calling for just that.
Does the airport security do anything besides harrass people and give them a "good feeling that something is being done"?
No, it doesn't.
But at least it gives me the opportunity to wiggle out of flying for work.
This was kept hush-hush, but fuknTrump in an off-handed comment, ON CAMERA, said something to the effect that, Ah, the WTC was an ugly poor design anyway..... IOW, he said Good fuknRiddance!!! Can you believe that??? Had I not seen/heard it w/ my own ears, I wouldna believed it--the arrogance alone (as if dats new, w/ Trump) was incredible. But, that newsclip was never played again, from what I could gather.
And all Clinton got was a half-assed cupla blow jobs, and look what he went thru.
Some of you might be saying, If Trump said dat ON CAMERA, HTF couuld he get away w/ a comment like that??
BTFOOM (beats the f*ck out of me).how he did it. Except for one explanation: NOBODY really gives a f*ck about anything--not even our own NYC asswipe Giuliani. Unless it happens to suit a particular purpose, at the right time in the right place.
Ding! Ding! Ding! You win the grand prize for realizing the ultimate truth. I've been telling people this for quite a while, ultimately nothing matters at all. It makes nothing but superficial difference what you, I or anyone else does. We've been seeing increasing evidence in the US of people coming to this realization and as they do loosing the "civilized" inhibitions on their behavior. We also see rapidly increasing apathy in the general population for the political system and government in general.
"Civilization" only exists as long as nearly everyone buys into it and it's rules / laws, it only takes a fairly small (like low single digit percentage) of the population rejecting "civilization" combined with apathy from much of the rest of the population to collapse the whole thing (as demonstrated in Iraq). If / when some people in the US begin to actively turn against their government it will rapidly collapse and with that collapse take the US consumer economy which is the keystone in the global economy with it. What follows after that isn't pretty on a global scale...
A true look at a mans charector...is not how he acts when watched..but how he acts when he thinks no one is watching.
For those that have no strong core beliefs..life is complicated. Self guilt is common. He has to be convinced or lead by the hand.
We come into this world with our hands, our brains and our honor. With luck, we will go out with that same Honor. Its the one thing no one..except by oneself, that cannot be taken away from you by others.
Moderates..fence sitters..sway with the wind. Those that some call intolerant..are indeed intolerant. Intolerant of lying, deceit, lack of personal responsiblity, lack of honor.
Note..nothing there is religious in nature. Only matters of charector.
If you think its better to be a rich criminal..than a poor honest man with honor...I think we just discovered why some think the world is going into the toilet.
Actually..I disagree. Im something of a history buff..
The US has gone through far worse times, and far better. The "Roaring Twenties" was a time of sex, booze and the equivelent of rock and roll" Morality has been up, and down and all over the place. Politics have been better..and worse. War and Peace.
We once were an agrarian society, with cottage industry. We are returning to cottage industry. One of the reasons we currently have so many social issues..is that the People have far too much leisure time on their hands. Not a complaint..just an observation. Folks with too much free time tend to get into trouble or become pests to the rest of us. That..and the publics turning a blind eye to criminals..giving them a pass and ignoring the Laws of the Land. This of course has been primarily promoted by the Left...another group with far too much time on its hands. Ever notice the demographics of Democrat and Republican protests? The Democrats tend to have large number of young and middle aged people. The Republicans tend to have lots of retirees. The obvious conclusion being that the Republicans are all at work..while the Democrats are on the dole and have nothing better to do with their time.
Too much time on our hands? Gee, we'll just have to raise the price of housing so that instead of 8 salaries, we'll need TEN salaries (workin two jobs) to afford a fukn roof.
I don't think it's the amount of free time we have--it's how we spend it. Video games, realityTV, holdin our crotches, and payin' for p*rn--across the socio-economic divide.
Altho the lower socio-eco's do more crotch-holding than the uppers', mostly cuz I think the uppers don't wanna mess up the pleats in their Brooks Bros. pants....
And the lost collective talent in our kids... wow....
Actually..yes. Housing costs are the result of folks who are buying homes as an investment. They are no longer simple shelter and a comfortable place to raise kids. They have become TajMahals, with inlaid stone floors and so forth. And yes..to afford those types of houses...you have to work 3 jobs. And in doing so..you raise the costs of housing around you..forcing others to work 3 jobs to get into that area. The Manufactured Home is a perfect example of a work around. The better ones anyways. Land is land..but what you put on it.. Or what you are willing to do ..allow yourself to beforced to put on it..and then allow others dictate how you live in it and use it...Anyone who lives in a housing association...deserves what they bought into.
And the housing investment bubble..appears to have deflated ..and the air continues to leak out..and will for years. This of course will bankrupt those who are now totally upside down..like any bad stock investment.
Free time is free time. How you fill it..or waste it..is your own choice. If you wish to burn out badly needed brain cells watching Springer, or playing a PS3..thats ones own choice. But the free time is there. Unless you are working so hard to pay for that tajmahal..or that home in the "good neighborhood"..which has shitty schools and a leisure class of kids who have already numbed their brains..but are too good to ask.."would you like fries with that"?
I picked up a kid hitchhiking Friday night on my way home. About 2 am actually. Big, fat, wearing a Raiders sweatshirt..half pants, no socks and tennies. Out in the middle of sweet fuckall nowhere. Cold as hell and shaking.
He said he had been trying to get a ride for 2 hours..left a party cause he was bored. He didnt bother to think through that it was gonna be 40F with a strong wind blowing across the desert. He said he was
21..and worked at the local KMart. Never did graduate from highschool..not even a GED..and was having a hard time finding a job. Had hopes of maybe getting a job in the oil fields.
When I suggested getting his GED..he snickered..said he had almost completed it..but didnt like going to school..so quit the GED program. He asked what I did for a living..and I explained. He got sorta baffled..and asked what did machine shops do? I handed him some parts that were laying in my console..and he was in total wonderment.."People actually make this stuff?"...
I asked him..how the hell did he think things were made..or did they simply grow a car in a field somewhere?..or an airplane or an Ipod etc..he said..he had never really thought about it before. At age
He was totally clueless. Utterly. Totally.
When I asked him how he expected to get a job, going through life, young, stupid and fat, without even a GED..he got a bit offended.
He said his girlfriend wanted to join the military so she could become a cosmotologist. I said its highly unlikely that they will send her to beauty school..but the bonus's and whatnot would certainly allow her to save enough money to go to school after she got out, and she was being smart to do this. Perhaps he should do the same..get his GED..go into the military..learn a trade. He asked about how they taught..and when I mentioned schools again..his eyes glazed over.
I figure that in the next few years..he will become a crank addict..lose all that weight, and waste about 10 yrs before he finally dies, or gets his head out of his ass. Then take a job doing lawns.
Shrug..since gas stations went self serve..kids like this dont even have that option.
When I dropped him off at his house..he said he was going to call in sick..as he was too tired from partying to go to work at Kmart. Rather offhand about it too. I wished him the best..and wrote him off as ever being a useful member of society..least not for at least 10 yrs. Then he might make an organ donor.
Before he closed the door..I asked him how much he made at Kmart. He mumbles something about $6 hr. I told him..I made $65 an hour plus travel time and mileage.. As his eyes widened..I told him:
.Kid..the only thing worse than going through life young and stupid..is going through life young, stupid and living in Taft. Then I pulled away.
I wrote an e-mail to Sears regarding the warranty on tools. This is the reply I received:
"Dear Mr. Young,
Thank you for contacting Sears.
Unfortunately, we do not have a document that lists the specific warranties of all Craftsman tools. However, we do have databases that do list the specific warranties of the tools on an individual basis.
A general list of Craftsman tools that are covered by the lifetime warranty would include: ratchets, sockets, wrenches, screwdrivers and hammers. Some tools that are not covered by the lifetime warranty (even though they are Craftsman branded) are: taps, dies, saw blades, drill bits and torque wrenches.
The Sears store can be contacted for all warranty issues. Since they can actually inspect and exchange broken/defective tools, the store must be contacted for warranty issues. The lifetime warranty is meant to protect the customer in the event that a tool is defective or breaks under normal use. It is not meant to cover tools that are damaged/destroyed/lost due to fire, water, theft or other natural causes.
We appreciate your business, and value you as a Sears customer. We certainly hope you will continue to make Sears your choice for quality and value.
Maybe if the schools didn't suck so god-damn-ed much.
Jesus, if I hadn't had my science-fiction to read and other things to keep me going, I might have been one of those guys that machine-gunned his high school.
From K5 to college I had a sum total of two decent teachers that had any ability to teach to make someone interested in their subject.
I also had one of the Jesuit monks take me and teach me about the Celts, the Vandals, the Goths, how Rome invaded England, the Norman invasion, etc. and make it seem fascinating.
The sad thing today is someone would probably accuse him of being a pedophile or something.
On the other hand, I had a "science" "teacher" that banned me from the computer classes because I DARED ask questions about evolution. Not that access to a TRS-80 with a cassette drive was a big deal.
I also had an English "teacher" tell my mother I was lying in my reading diary. It took her bringing in my dog-eared James Blish Star Treks, Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, etc. to convince him that I was actually reading a full book every week or so.
One of my friends took a sip of my math "teachers" coffee to find out it was over 100 proof. I'll never forget that. This teacher later caught my friend with weed and they struck a deal that nobody mentioned the alcohol and nobody would mention the weed.
That was the quality of the school staff.
Basically almost all my "teachers" were petty backbiting assholes more concerned with appearances than anything else.
It all boils down to the fact that American education sucks, and all it's good for is turning out slackers like Exhibit A above.
It shocks me how unresourceful people are. If someone gets stuck, he's stuck. He doesn't Google it, think about it, or anything. He just goes "help I'm stuck, can somebody do some thinking for me?"
And I'll tell you just exactly *why* teachers are apathetic - in one word - "discipline" .
Or more accurately , the lack thereof . My wife teaches , and has absolutely no control , because the students know the worst she can do is call their parents - and these kids are in first grade . Betcha a buck if she could bust just *one* kids ass , the rest would fall into line .
Well, at least give people credit for asking, if not googling. I'd rather than ask in a knowledgeable place, than google. Google isn't a lot different than the chaos in school--and the bullshit. Agree w/ your assessment of school--a lot of people get left behind in a lot of different ways.
Gunner, good story. Unnerving, but good. If the kid had responded at all, and asked to hang w/ you as a kind of apprentice, what would you have done?
WOW!!! You got a literate response from them! More than likely not a form as well! Congratulations!
Yesterday, I tried to call and ask my local Sears store and ask about the Craftsman warranty, but finally gave up after about 45 min of interactive voice response systems, endless hang-up's waiting for phones to be answered, hold time and transfer hang-up's. Never did get to talk to anyone other than an operator, whom I suspected to be in another state/country.
Id have him over on the weekends, puttering in the shop, learning to read prints, mics, making chips, welding and actually doing Stuff. My shop is open to anyone who wanders in the door. The only thing that I require from them..is that they pay attention to what I tell them..and that they dont f*ck with anything unless Ive checked them out first.
Kids came by last month..neighborhood wannabies. Had a busted bike frame. Simple chrome moly, busted while they were trying to jump it.
10 speeds dont jump worth a shit.
Anyways..they came over..whimpered about "please fix this for us"..and I said No. When they started to puff up..I said..No..I wont fix it for you..but Ill help YOU fix it. And I did. I certainly had better things to do..but I spent half a day with all three of them, helping them straighten the frame, pull the joints back together..then letting each of them try tig welding on a chunk of similar scrap...and picking the best one to do half the welding..then letting the other two do a quarter each. Then showed em how to patch up the holes they burned.
Caught one of them slipping a mic into his pocket..and nailed him in the back of the head with a piece of 1" pvc..firmly. All I said was "no. never again". After his eyes uncrossed..he blinked..saw I was pretty blase about it (they hate that..cant figure the blase person out) and we finished the job, spray painted the bike, adjusted the running gear and off they went.
Saw em yesterday. They waved and asked if they could help. I told em to check back next weekend, Id have something for them to do(sort the lumber pile)..and off they went.
I love teaching. Teaching anything I know. Which oddly enough..turns out to be both eclectic and considerable. But the student has to actually Try....and pay attention.
Sigh..maybe its because my own son is bi-polar/manic depressive and has ADHD..and was impossible to do anything with..and learned early on that if he whimpered to his momma..she would always interceed. Now he is as worthless as t*ts on a boar hog. And Ive not spoken a word to him in 2 yrs.
Very tough break. But you have exactly the right idea w/ kids. I believe the best education a kid can have is a structured apprenticeship--in anything, but especially in shop-shit. So did the rebel educator A.S. Neil--who I unfortunately read during school.... Too bad that it's virtually impossible to realize that type of interaction. I've tried to open my shop up to kids. Not innerested.... too busy doin... well... nuthin... Plus, I think there's sumpn in the water, here in Yonkers--and not just chlorine... Shame.... A body could get multiple PhDs just learnin about cars.
You hit the nail on the head, Forst off thanks fgor the great post second off the first line of the warranty has the total focus
Craftsman tools are designed for the HOME WORKSHOP to provide professional performance
Profesisonal performance at a compromise because in a home workshop environment professional durability isnt needed.
MAC- SNAPON PROTO SK and GRAY tools and all their similar companies are not being built for a home workshop they are built for jobbers and full industrial shops
Mastercraft (Canadian tire) and Craftsman and similar tools though build decent are not designed or intended for use in a job shop. lets take 2 identical toolboxes filled with identical tools doing the same jobs. Neither toolbox has any tools made of unobtainium the never break tool
One is in a job shop one is in a home the job shop toolbox will see 40 hours of use the home shop will see maybe 8? in the same week the one set of tools was used five times more
You really do get what you pay for a mechanic using craftsman tools for a 25 year career would have tools that were used for 125 years worth of homeowner use. the companries i mentioned earlier thats quite possible to have tools last 25 years in an industrial setting. but youre getting what you pay for
I would love to dump all my Mastercraft and Craftsman stuff for IR and MAC or even better Gray tools (Sorry Pro canadian bias, If I am going to pay the premium for professional hand tools i might as well buy CANADIAN professional tools)
But an industrial lifetime is a lot more use and wear thna a home workshop lifetime and the right level of tools fis the job.
One of the BEST warrantees I have ever seen for taking that into account is New HOBART otherwise known as hobart/miller. The Hobart lines are now being targeted at the home shops and the Hobart 5/3/1 warranty goes out and expressedly states that the stuff most liekly to break (Mig guns and such) that are usually covered by a 1 year warranty are only covered by a 90 day warranty for industrial use.
HObart is aimed at farmers/home shops where the Miller parent Products are aimed at full industrial and dont have that caveat on the warnings.
But the white painted miller welders (Hobart) are cheaper too for being almost exact clones of miller products
I have yet to break a craftsman Wrench or socket yet i've had Princess auto sockets and breaker bars not last a lug nut. (Princess auto =3D canadian Harbor Freight)
Sorry this whole rnt is to not expect a good homeowner tool to stand up to > tomcas wrote in
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