There autta be a law!

[Gunsmoke]

I'm still fuming. Had arranged to buy some very scarce 1931 Chrysler CD8 parts from a friend who had them at someone else's place out of town, including this full steering assembly. Inadvertently, the other guy asked a 3rd party to take them to store them for later pickup (or so I understand). I went this week (100 miles) to pick them up, and someone had sawed the steering wheel off a couple of inches below the hub, and taken the wheel only. Ruined the jacket, steering shaft and all the control rods, rendering the assembly almost useless. Grrrr....there should be a law to send those types away! The box is good and the clum switch is perfect, can only imagine what the wheel and control levers looked like. Will try to track down the steering wheel.

[36 D2 Coupe]

Greedy half-wits should be allowed to experience medieval torture. Sadly, they eat regularly 😖

[wayne sheldon]

This reminds me of a story told by another internet Southern hemisphere friend. Story told on another antique auto forum (mtfca) several years ago.

I forget now whether he was in Australia or New Zealand, but one or the other. He had been restoring his model N/R/S Ford for  awhile, and needed a radiator for the early car. Found one, of course in the USA. Pays the money, it was a bit expensive. Has the seller take it to a place that packed and shipped internationally, for a price. Then awaits anxiously for the couple weeks it takes for such shipments at that time. When the box arrives, he is alarmed to see the odd size and shape. The shipper, in order to save a few dollars, had run the radiator through a saw and cut it in half, so that the two halves would fit in a smaller box that would ship for less cost.

 

Some people are simply clueless!

[jpage]

Talk about stupid things. Years ago, I worked in a popular local auto supply store. The owner's son also worked there for a time. This kid marched to a different drum. So one day, a customer bought several long pieces of premade brake line from this kid. After making the sale, he found a thin box, folded up the lines and stuffed them into the box so they would be easier to carry! You should have seen the look on the customers face! Priceless!

 

[padgett]

Look on the shop owner's face would have been as good.

[TAKerry]

When my brothers were in hs they had a good friend that had an early mg or triumph, late 50's early 60's. Honestly cant remember exactly  what the car is 40years later but was one of the 2, I remember it being open and red. Anyway, he had a front end collision. After a bit of a search he found another identical but clapped out car. He cut the front end of the frame off the donor and was going to weld it back to the front of his wrecked car. Ruined both with one fell swoop of a torch!!

[padgett]

And then there was this Vauxhall (used to be sold by Pontiac) that had a warmed over SBC dropped in. Pretty soon it became a 3 wheeler with one front tire off the ground anytime it was going straight.

[dibarlaw]

 I had offered an ebay seller $400 for all the drive train to be disposed of from a 1925 Buick Standard roadster he was "RAT RODDING". A stalled restoration project that the owner had died. The engine had reportidly been rebuilt. I was out bid on all the individual parts components he listed. When I later called to check on some no bid items he said that no one sent any money or got the parts, engine etc. I asked about a bumper set he had. He said he cut them up for flat stock with a torch. What one can just make out in the photo of the incomplete engine is at the lower right hand corner that the rear axle stay rods are torched off. Another photo had shown where the torque tube and the drive shaft are torched off. 4 bolts would have removed a complete useable rear axle assembly. I guess he only owned a "SMOKE WRENCH".

 The ad photo conveniently not showing where the torque tube was torched.

 Front axle showing where the rear spring shackles were torched.

 I asked what happend to all these parts? He said he took all to scrap and got $158.  Next question... Where is the scrap yard? "Made no never mind as they done did chunk it up when it came in the yard". "I watched them knock the transmission offin the engine with the big magget."

 Yes there autta be a law!

[padgett]

OTOH if there was a law against stupid, the jails would be full.

 

Just wait a few hundred years and see what happens when "survival of the fittest" becomes "survival of the most prolific".

[60FlatTop]

I used to report to a boss who made very pointed distinctions between ignorant and stupid. Thanks to him I realize there are less stupid people than one might think.

[padgett]

Yes: ignorance is curable, stupid is forever.

[wayne sheldon]

My long-time personal saying on that subject is

 

"Ignorance is a fact. Stupid is a choice."

 

Every human being is ignorant about a lot more than anyone can ever know. Most of it are things most people have no need to know. Anyone can learn a lot more if they want to. Hence, ignorance is a fact of every life. Stupid is choosing to not learn things that one needs to know, or should know, or should even be obvious to anyone that used their brain just a little bit. Everyone has opportunities every day to learn more, and understand better. Stupid is choosing to not learn, or choosing to not think about the consequences of thoughtless actions.

 

One of my dad's favorite sayings was that "A college education is not a cure for terminal stupidity." Sadly, I have learned he was right.

 

Intelligence, and 'smart', are not the same thing. I have personally known brilliant engineers that wore loafers on their feet because they never could figure out how to tie their shoes properly (absolutely TRUE!). Millions of people today can play video games and achieve some of the highest scores possible, but they cannot socially interact with normal people or perform simple duties of a real job.

My dad was a brilliant electrical and electronic engineer (rare for someone to be good at both, and he could tie his shoes among the best!). But in so many ways, he was as dumb as a stump! (VERY frustrating to work with!)

 

At work, once I had to find and repair some system tampering done by a professor who was teaching physics at Stanford University. He believed that because he was a world's authority in particle physics that he knew everything about RF (radio frequency electromagnetic waves) waveform phenomenon.

 

One of the most fascinating conversations I ever had in my life, was a chance meeting with a profoundly retarded young man emptying trash cans at a McDonald's I stopped at for a late lunch. It was middle of the afternoon slow time. I said something nice to the young man, and as he had little to do at that moment, we chatted for a bit. His younger sister just out of high school took care of his paychecks, and monthly bills, and helped remind him of his daily duties. She would give him a small allowance for him to spend as he wished, and he was saving up to buy an alarm clock so that his sister would not have to phone him every day to get ready to go to work. As we chatted, I found a young man that would never achieve an education above about the second grade. Yet, he knew who he was, what he could and could not do with his life. He was comfortable with himself, willing to get to know and listen to anyone that treated him with a little respect. 

If only everyone could be as smart as that young man.

[padgett]

Amazing how different opinions can be and still be valid within a context. Have become surprised at how many great people would now be considered HFA (high functioning autistic). "Specialization is for insects" (RAH).

 

OTOH (on the other hand) in order to be able to speak with experts, you have to know the language & is necessary to be able to stand on their shoulders.

 

Nice thing about loafers (now we have velcro) is you never break a shoelace.

 

Agree the major thing a college education teaches is how to think, not what to think about.

 

Has been fun living on the bleeding edge of technology since the '60s.

[60FlatTop]

18 hours ago, wayne sheldon said:

At work, once I had to find and repair some system tampering done by a professor who was teaching physics at Stanford University. He believed that because he was a world's authority in particle physics that he knew everything about RF (radio frequency electromagnetic waves) waveform phenomenon.

 

Made me smile big. I have questioned many conclusions based on engineering assumptions. When I suggested reevaluation by bringing the facts into the context of the situation at hand the reply has usually been the same "Well, in a perfect world we could do it your way".

 

And they didn't understand Don either. I did.