Things the children struggle with

GymB

GymB

Picking it up slowly.
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I figure there will be some good stories under this topic, the battery operate fan thread got me thinking about one.

Yesterday I got a series of calls and texts from my daughter. Friend of hers had a car that wouldn’t start and she wanted to jump it. I’ve taught her how, and bought her good cables, but she wanted to confirm the hookup, so we walked through it. After we got off the phone she got different instructions from the girl’s father, and followed those. She called back later to ask if she needed to get new cables, hmmm.

I don’t know if the hookup was good or not, maybe the dead battery had an internal short, but whatever it was the insulation burned off the jumper cables. She said that there was a lot of smoke and the things were way too hot to touch. A guy stopped for the two college girls whose cars appeared to be on fire and unhooked them.

Many thanks to the anonymous guy!
 
Kids nothing...I have my own stupid struggles that irritate me.

I cant drive a manual transmission. Family growing up always had automatics, all I have ever bought were automatics, only once had a chance to even try to drive one about 25 years ago.

Fast forward to last Wednesday, I was at the hospital with a family who's child was dying. The mother had rushed to the hospital and left her car, a corvette, parked in the no-parking zone. So, while they were around I offered to move her car for her. So she hands me the keys...and a few moments later I am walking down the hall and the thought hits me..."What if this corvette is manual...this will be embarrassing to a level I haven't seen before." Fortunately, the vette was manual and I was able to move it. (Side note...I am too big of a man to drive a vette...I wore that thing like pants).

So...even adults sometimes have stupid weaknesses they should fix, but don't or haven't.
 
JimB said:
She called back later to ask if she needed to get new cables, hmmm.

I don’t know if the hookup was good or not, maybe the dead battery had an internal short, but whatever it was the insulation burned off the jumper cables.
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Happened once to a coworker who tried jumping their car. Got the polarities reversed. Plenty of smoke and fire.

B00ger said:
I cant drive a manual transmission.
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Ha ha.... That would have been fun to watch. Years ago I taught my girlfriend, now wife, how to drive a manual. She came to a set of RR tracks and stopped. She kept saying, I'm going to stall out on the tracks. I said, "No you're not, just start and keep going and don't try to shift while going across them." Wouldn't you know it, she stalled out.

Another time, a relative drove my father's car with a manual a few miles. It was a hilarious, but rough ride. My father said the car never drove the same again.

I call an manual transmission a millennial anti-theft device.
 
noway2 said:
I call an manual transmission a millennial anti-theft device.
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Millenial Theft Device.png
The first vehicle my son's drove was a manual Toyota truck in a farm field, they were 9 & 11 and it was a hoot. Thankfully they'd had a clutch reference point from riding dirt bikes for a couple years.
 
Pink_Vapor said:
The first vehicle my son's drove was a manual Toyota truck in a farm field, they were 9 & 11 and it was a hoot. Thankfully they'd had a clutch reference point from riding dirt bikes for a couple years.
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The hard part is getting that natural feel for goosing the gas as you're letting off of and not riding the clutch. I've heard that the diesel trucks tend to have enough torque that you can put it in 1st and just let the clutch out and it will creep. It's considered a feature.
 
When my older son was commuting to UNCC during his freshman year, he came in the house one day after classes and asked "Is it a sign of something bad when lots of smoke is coming out from under the car's hood?"
 
My wfie ruint her first car after leaving the nest because she had no idea you had to change the oil. Had no idea that was a thing.
 
Be careful with the swapped jumper cables; battery will explode under certain conditions. Those battery operated jumper boxes are the way to go; I got one off Amazon and its cranked everything from my wifes 2 liter Kia to my 6 liter Chevy.

It beeps at you if you have the polarity backwards; its idiot proof and perfect for "kids these days."
 
B00ger said:
Kids nothing...I have my own stupid struggles that irritate me.

I cant drive a manual transmission. Family growing up always had automatics, all I have ever bought were automatics, only once had a chance to even try to drive one about 25 years ago.

Fast forward to last Wednesday, I was at the hospital with a family who's child was dying. The mother had rushed to the hospital and left her car, a corvette, parked in the no-parking zone. So, while they were around I offered to move her car for her. So she hands me the keys...and a few moments later I am walking down the hall and the thought hits me..."What if this corvette is manual...this will be embarrassing to a level I haven't seen before." Fortunately, the vette was manual and I was able to move it. (Side note...I am too big of a man to drive a vette...I wore that thing like pants).

So...even adults sometimes have stupid weaknesses they should fix, but don't or haven't.
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I could teach you how in less than 30 minutes.
 
My girlfriends teens don't know squat about squat, unless we're talking about gender bending, mine-craft, food or the way they think things should be. They revel in their blissful ignorance of all things.

I frequently get "<insert object here> isn't working.", which I've learned can mean anything from "it's on fire" to "it won't turn on" to "the blinky thing that's usually blue is now red" to "I dropped it in the bathtub". They act exasperated when I ask for additional information as if I'm the idiot.

Her #1: My laptop has an error on it!
Me: What does it say?
Her #1: I don't know.
Me: Go read it and tell me what it says.
Her #1: <2 hours later> It says click ok to continue.
Me:

giphy.gif
 
Brian K said:
My girlfriends teens don't know squat about squat, unless we're talking about gender bending, mine-craft, food or the way they think things should be. They revel in their blissful ignorance of all things.

I frequently get "<insert object here> isn't working.", which I've learned can mean anything from "it's on fire" to "it won't turn on" to "the blinky thing that's usually blue is now red" to "I dropped it in the bathtub". They act exasperated when I ask for additional information as if I'm the idiot.

Her #1: My laptop has an error on it!
Me: What does it say?
Her #1: I don't know.
Me: Go read it and tell me what it says.
Her #1: <2 hours later> It says click ok to continue.
Me:

giphy.gif
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Lmfao. I can actually see that in my head :D
 
My wife didn’t know how to change or plug a tire until she started working at the post office. I taught her how to do both so she can take care of any roadside issues and now she can do it in about 20 minutes start to finish.
 
GeorgeBush said:
Be careful with the swapped jumper cables; battery will explode under certain conditions. Those battery operated jumper boxes are the way to go; I got one off Amazon and its cranked everything from my wifes 2 liter Kia to my 6 liter Chevy.

It beeps at you if you have the polarity backwards; its idiot proof and perfect for "kids these days."
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Bought one last year and used it in August at a restaurant. Funny you should mention this as this morning I had one shipped to my son’s wife because she did not start the second vehicle for months and it will go dead in two weeks if not driven. I was attempting to get mileage off the car which is in Kansas so I could transfer the title over to my son.

Mine will do a 6 liter diesel but the one I sent her will do a 3.0 diesel and up to a 6.0 liter gas engine (1000 cranking amps). I’ll never use another set of cables if I don’t have to but I only carry the NOGA jumper on the service van.
 
B00ger said:
Fortunately, the vette was manual and I was able to move it. (Side note...I am too big of a man to drive a vette...I wore that thing like pants).
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You're not the only one. My old boss went out and bought a Porsche. Well, not really a Porsche, it was a Boxster. He told the dealer to park it outside the gate and he'd pick it up after hours. Then called me and said, "I bought this car and don't know how to drive it, can you get it home for me?".

So, here I am 6'4 280#, trying to stuff myself into this brand new pseudo-sports car. I swear I couldn't get into 1st without my getting my knee jammed between the shifter and the wheel. About crashed that thing every time I hit a light.
 
B00ger said:
Kids nothing...I have my own stupid struggles that irritate me.

I cant drive a manual transmission. Family growing up always had automatics, all I have ever bought were automatics, only once had a chance to even try to drive one about 25 years ago.

Fast forward to last Wednesday, I was at the hospital with a family who's child was dying. The mother had rushed to the hospital and left her car, a corvette, parked in the no-parking zone. So, while they were around I offered to move her car for her. So she hands me the keys...and a few moments later I am walking down the hall and the thought hits me..."What if this corvette is manual...this will be embarrassing to a level I haven't seen before." Fortunately, the vette was manual and I was able to move it. (Side note...I am too big of a man to drive a vette...I wore that thing like pants).

So...even adults sometimes have stupid weaknesses they should fix, but don't or haven't.
Click to expand...
At 6 my son would watch the timing of me driving the Dodge diesel truck straight drive. Then at 8 he wanted to do the shifting. Sometimes it was painful to hear. He would sit straddling the shifter. At twelve I let him drive in lots and on dirt roads. It made him happy and was big boy time for us. At 16 I bought him a BMW Z4 convertible stick shift which he had to help pay for. He loved shifting until he got 21 and said he would never have a manual because he liked to relax when driving.
 
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I fit into the millenial age group, so its surprising to me what some of my peers can't do. (I grew up hunting, fishing, farming, etc so I had to learn a lot as a kid)

I've got a few friends who didn't get their drivers licenses until their mid 20's, and One friend who's 32 and still doesn't have hers. That one blows my mind. I couldn't wait to get mine at 16.

I meet a lot of people who can't drive a manual. Me? I wish manuals were still optional on everything. Its what I grew up on, and what I'm used to. Automatics don't "feel right" to me.

I've met a few folks in their 30's and 40's who can't cook. At all. The best they could do was microwave dinners, and frozen pizzas you pop in the oven. I know one guy (not a friend) who's 48 and has eaten out every hot meal he's had since he left home at 18.

When it comes to tearing up cars, my sister tops them all. I'm convinced she could break a Sherman tank with a loaf of stale bread. She seized the engine in my mom's Oldsmobile in high school. Plastic radiator cracked. Sister saw it pouring out hot coolant. Decides to drive it 30 miles to pizza hut anyway. The car actually made the trip there, and finally locked up about 3 miles from home on the way back.

Her second car, she decided to try driving down a flooded street. Sucked water into the intake. Called my dad when she "broke down" Dad found a fist-sized hole in the side of the engine block, with a connecting rod hanging out of it.

Third car, she totaled going through the taco bell drive through. Those concrete pillars they have to keep you from hitting the drive thru sign? She hit one so hard she bent the frame. I don't even know how she picked up that much speed, but she's special.

Another car she spun out into the middle of a corn field trying to dodge a turtle.

Broke an engine mount and rim hitting a curb in downtown Wilmington.

Ran into two of my trucks, at different times, while they were parked.

4th car, she has had to have the engine replaced in 3 times, because she runs it out of water, or out of oil. Finally Hurricane Matthew blew a trampoline on top of it and totaled it, and put it out of its misery.

Mom loaned her an old Pontiac to drive her kids to school. Sister (or her deadbeat husband) ran it out of oil.

I let her borrow my old Chevy blazer for just one day. She managed to break a window.

She's in her early 30's now, and my mom bought her a new car to take her kids to school with. So far, she hasn't wrecked it. Maybe 9th? 10th? time's the charm?

noway2 said:
The hard part is getting that natural feel for goosing the gas as you're letting off of and not riding the clutch. I've heard that the diesel trucks tend to have enough torque that you can put it in 1st and just let the clutch out and it will creep. It's considered a feature.
Click to expand...

I haven't driven many big trucks, but the few I have, you'd just push in the clutch about halfway to start the engine, and then just let the pedal out slowly while at idle, and it would start rolling. You usually wouldn't need any clutch to shift either.
 
noway2 said:
The hard part is getting that natural feel for goosing the gas as you're letting off of and not riding the clutch. I've heard that the diesel trucks tend to have enough torque that you can put it in 1st and just let the clutch out and it will creep. It's considered a feature.
Click to expand...
Any diesel... I've got a 2000 Jetta TDI, and on level ground, I can start from a dead stop, never touch the throttle, and make it to 3rd gear (about 20 MPH) and never touch the throttle.

Torque rocks.
 
A couple weeks ago a guy in his late 30s, early 40s was complaining about how millennials cant read cursive while he typed with 2 fingers...

I wish I could say I'm surprised by the amount of basic car stuff people don't know. I'm not an expert by any means, but there are very few cars that don't come up if you type "how to jump battery on [any car]".
 
You guys are making me feel pretty good about myself. Not long ago, my son wanted some shelves to display his various awards (not participation - he hates those) and asked me if he could use my shop tools to build some. Didn't even occur to him they were something you could buy ready-made. I guess I did ok.
 
I've worked with quite a few youngsters that can't use a hammer properly. Choked up to the head, over striking, missing, etc. Just hammer like they are trying to bash gnats as fast as they can. Worked with plenty that had almost zero experience with tools and even less with some basic diagnostic skill.

I personally can't write worth a damn. Born left handed, trained to be right handed, and now it just comes out tiny or like total chicken scratch, or both. I couldn't ever do cursive correctly, so my signature is just a couple of random bumps and a loop.
 
I met a guy who couldn’t code in SQL, still used Excel for everything. Couldn’t even use a solid V-lookup. And don’t get me started on those who can’t even run a simple access macro.


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B00ger said:
I met a guy who couldn’t code in SQL, still used Excel for everything. Couldn’t even use a solid V-lookup. And don’t get me started on those who can’t even run a simple access macro.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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It all about python and GO now old timer
 
Sevenshot said:
A couple weeks ago a guy in his late 30s, early 40s was complaining about how millennials cant read cursive while he typed with 2 fingers...

I wish I could say I'm surprised by the amount of basic car stuff people don't know. I'm not an expert by any means, but there are very few cars that don't come up if you type "how to jump battery on [any car]".
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I took typing, now called keyboarding, in high school, on a Royal manual typewriter, with blank key-tops. Probably the most useful class I took in high school.

I build engines, and installed them in cars before I had a drivers license, when I broke down on the side of the road because the contact came off the points, I was able to bend the the arm till I got the next town and able to buy a new set, and set the dwell and continue on.

Though today's vehicles don't lend themselves to this type of roadside repair, I have tried to impart some of this ability to the grandsons, as I did with my daughter, who can tear into a cloths dryer and repair it.
 
B00ger said:
I met a guy who couldn’t code in SQL, still used Excel for everything. Couldn’t even use a solid V-lookup. And don’t get me started on those who can’t even run a simple access macro.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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At least I can drive a stick :p
 
LeeMajors said:
At least I can drive a stick :p
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My daily drive is a stick, and have taught the grandsons to drive it. Problem is it is a diesel, and it hasn't really prepared them to drive a gasoline power stick.

Daughter drove a stick, and was a volunteer firefighter/EMT in department that only had straight drive apparatus (20 years ago) and could drive the whole fleet.
 
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