The Panda Nut
Nutty about Pandas Infected by Panda virus and OPD
I used to use TPS and did a load of things through them before they stopped dealing. A shame as they were nice people and knew their stuff.
What's made you not grumpy but not smile either today?
- Thread starter dave
- Start date
Currently reading:
What's made you not grumpy but not smile either today?
The Panda Nut
Nutty about Pandas Infected by Panda virus and OPD
I qualified in Horticulture (hardly brain surgery) and I did have to show my qualifications twice, once fpr the first jobas a y=trainedd landscape architect and once when I worked for a nasty piece ofm work who was an exd HSE Inspector who was over zealous and overbearingly unpleasnat at all times. It sort of makes a mockery of all the emphasis on certification when no one ever looks at it, Also indicates what its really worth!I only got as far as a Student member of IMI and have never had to show my qualifications in all my working life, always being fairly local I was well known, or notorious, I am not sure which.
I did learn a lot at Motor Vehicle College as most of the lecturers were from the Motor Trade so had hands on experience and could relate to you, however I picked up plenty of hands on experience as an apprentice from the older mechanics at the garage and as we worked on anything that came in it gave me a good all round knowledge.
It was a welcome change from the Secondary Modern school which I had stayed on to the fifth year, which if I described it as mediocre that would be kind!
Strangely I did get a good CSE in Horticulture from that school, I recall the class the year before mine was famous for digging a massive hole in the school gardens, throwing all the equipment in and then filling it up with the last spade and throwing that over the hedge.
I am firmly of the belief that a good technical education, starting as a apprentice in the subject is of far more benefit than sending youngsters to University until they are 25 to get a Degree in something that they have no hands on experience in and yet have been told they are worth a high salary. Especially as many never get a job in the subject they qualify in. Tony Blair has a lot to answer for.
Last edited:
My involvement in the maintenance of "the family fleet" has changed quite considerably recently starting with the purchase of my older boy's Kia Rio. To comply with it's 7 year warranty it's always gone to the Kia dealer for it's servicing. The others all came to me, which were recently the Astra, Jazz, Punto, Mazda 2, Ibiza and Becky our Panda. All these ran very happily on the appropriate Fuchs product. I think it's an excellent product and, unlike some, still comes in 5 litre containers if you need that size. Also, if you keep your eyes open, there are often on line offers from trusted suppliers, like Powerenhancer, Opie oils and others. If you're looking for online deals be wary of old stock being sold by unknown suppliers. I like to look on the suppliers website and if they're selling quite a small range of oils, maybe just the oil on offer, together with perfume, tin openers, and paper towls etc - you get the idea? Then I avoid them. If selling a good range of oils and other motor related products you're probably on a winner.
Relatively recently the Astra has been replaced by the Audi A4 Avant. The Jazz was wrecked by a drug crazed drunk! and replaced with the Mazda, The Punto was written off by a driver attempting to move out of a stationary lane into the lane my boy was traveling in at 30 mph - OUCH and such a pity, it was a nice car, and the Ibiza I've replaced with the Scala. The Audi has so much electronics on it and the complicated EA211 engine with the ACT valve train, self leveling/load compensating rear suspension and lots of other complicated stuff, that we send it to the local independent Audi specialist for just about everything. The Mazda goes to Keith's garage PME in the town where he lives. https://www.google.com/search?q=PME...TVzVKMURLSDVOcExoTkk4aDl5V1NxWEUtSzZUZWpSLUlK
My boy has recently done his signage for him which is why I've included the link above so you can admire his work! My boy has a very good relationship with them and they are on his doorstep which is very convenient.
The poor Punto, as I mentioned above, was wrecked and my older boy's wife has changed her job so they don't need two cars any more and are running just the Kia - which goes to the Kia Garage. My Skoda Scala has another 18 months or so of warranty so it's being looked after by the Skoda dealer until warranty expires. Which leaves me with just Becky to "play" with. At first I missed not being so busy but then my arthritic hip became more of a problem so I quite appreciated not doing so much. Now I'm pretty much back to normal with the new hip and doing more gardening and taking daily walks as well as working on my "classic" horticultural stuff and I have to say I really enjoying being able to still work on mechanical "stuff" but now indoors and not lying on my back outside in the cold and wet. Feels like I'm entering a new phase of my life! Still trying to make up my mind whether to do the Scala maintenance once she's out of warranty. She's quite a lot simpler than the Audi but still has loads of electronics and my elderly version of VCDS doesn't interface properly with her. Gendan have told me I need to update it with a new interface etc but I'm unsure as to whether this is worth doing when the local Audi/VW indy - run by the son of a good family friend - is so convenient to use. Maybe I should just lavish Becky with all my attentions and really spoil her!
Aye guys, my experience too. I was fortunate enough to attend the college full time for some four and a half years gaining quite a few certificates etc. The most useful by far were the City and Guilds - to "technicians" level - and a motor industry management diploma. After Firestone closed their European racing division I worked in the garage trade for much of my life before becoming a trainer and I found the bigger dealerships - I worked for a BMC main dealer - were quite interested to see my City and Guilds certificates but still wanted employer references. The smaller, family businesses, which I much preferred working for, wanted references and would ring up the previous employer for a chat.I did learn a lot at Motor Vehicle College as most of the lecturers were from the Motor Trade so had hands on experience and could relate to you, however I picked up plenty of hands on experience as an apprentice from the older mechanics at the garage and as we worked on anything that came in it gave me a good all round knowledge.
It was a welcome change from the Secondary Modern school which I had stayed on to the fifth year, which if I described it as mediocre that would be kind!
Strangely I did get a good CSE in Horticulture from that school, I recall the class the year before mine was famous for digging a massive hole in the school gardens, throwing all the equipment in and then filling it up with the last spade and throwing that over the hedge.
I am firmly of the belief that a good technical education, starting as a apprentice in the subject is of far more benefit than sending youngsters to University until they are 25 to get a Degree in something that they have no hands on experience in and yet have been told they are worth a high salary. Especially as many never get a job in the subject they qualify in. Tony Blair has a lot to answer for.
Mike, your post really resonates with me. Far too many kids are being brain washed into going down the university route when their mindset and abilities would be much better served by concentrating on learning a trade - and they'd be earning a wage while doing it! I think a lot of what's wrong with the country these days could be addressed by getting less academically inclined youths - I was one - involved in learning a trade and doing something they can take pride in. There's loads of us who need to work with our hands as well as our minds!
Yes, I agree. Pleasant to deal with and more than usually helpful when looking for unusual or older parts. I hadn't been to them for some time, more than a year, when I had to get a genuine part and they were very different. Just wouldn't entertain me without a trade account. I could still get stuff from them by asking the owner at AVW to buy for me but, honestly, I don't like making a nuisance of myself when I may need to use them to look after the Scala. Anyway, there are plenty of online sources for good quality parts now.
The Panda Nut
Nutty about Pandas Infected by Panda virus and OPD
I suppose my big regret is I went university and then management. I was never happy and know I would have just done better using my hands, probably self employed. I spent 40 years doing things that a lot of the time I didnt enjoy much and at times no real job satisfation. I would always advise youngsters to have a good long chat with a few older more experienced people in their family or friends and discuss job satisfactionand the things that they enjoy and dislike about their work and weigh up carefully. Now everyone can go to university and the subject matter is so loose at times I really question how many attendees really are suited to that education. We need cultured brains and scientists and experts, but we need pekple who can DO even more. Computers are so off the scale now its beoynd the scope of many to get involved, but being soemone who can so stuff won't go out of fashion and if you do a good job you will alwyas have work. The less academic people are mostly gifted in other ways and the lack of value placed on their skills is frankly stupid. The old thing of "for an intelligent man he's bloody useless" applies every bit as much now as ever. Thank heavens that we are so different and can together sort out nearly anything. Long live the differences!
The Panda Nut
Nutty about Pandas Infected by Panda virus and OPD
RE lavishing attention on Becky. Yes! Nice straightforward stuff . Just the job to keep you moving without being too taxing. Im really pleased to hear your hips job has worked out well too.
Thanks for the good wishes. I think I've been very fortunate in the surgeon I got to do it. Having gone private I had the choice of several so choosing this chap was mostly on the recommendation of the nurse I saw at the hospital and looking on line for his history. I'll be asking for him again if the other hip packs in and I have to go private again. I've just come back from today's "stroll" - just over an hour up hill and down near the water of Leith and, if anything, the new hip coped better with it than the existing original one!
I'm sort of, kind of, hesitantly thinking that if Becky fails on the axle I could sorn her and do a new axle when the good summer weather returns. However Mrs J really, REALLY doesn't like driving the Scala. It's far too big she says - she's had a couple of goes and how she hasn't side swiped a parked car I don't know! she also doesn't get on at all with the overly powerful and sensitive brakes - far too much servo assistance in my view and it's taken some time for me to get used to them. Now she's refusing to even try driving it. So the problem would be how she goes shopping for food etc. while Becky is awaiting the better weather.
I might have mentioned it before (if so, sorry), but I build up rear beams ready to swap, refurbishing bits as I go, so the actual "ramp" operation is not really much more than changing a pair of dampers and bleeding the brakes.
Haven't timed it, but its surprisingly quick, especially if brake pipes are pre-made to join under the passenger seat (never known them to be hard to undo, unlike ALL of the rear ones).
Its a bit easier for me as I have a stock of spare parts from earlier beam swaps, but its easy to get hold of an old complete beam to strip for parts, and then weigh in it and the replaced one when job is done.
(Mostly you need brake back plates, hub studs & nuts, pipe clips, and the beam to chassis brackets, although I have picked up secondhand beams in the past with nearly brand new brake shoes, drums and cylinders - luck of the draw!)
That way you can be sure everything is "just right" and you can do the swap quickly when it suits rather than in a rush because someone wants to use the ramp.
Haven't timed it, but its surprisingly quick, especially if brake pipes are pre-made to join under the passenger seat (never known them to be hard to undo, unlike ALL of the rear ones).
Its a bit easier for me as I have a stock of spare parts from earlier beam swaps, but its easy to get hold of an old complete beam to strip for parts, and then weigh in it and the replaced one when job is done.
(Mostly you need brake back plates, hub studs & nuts, pipe clips, and the beam to chassis brackets, although I have picked up secondhand beams in the past with nearly brand new brake shoes, drums and cylinders - luck of the draw!)
That way you can be sure everything is "just right" and you can do the swap quickly when it suits rather than in a rush because someone wants to use the ramp.
Thanks irc, I remember you mentioning this before and I agree it's a good idea. Not sure what I'm going to do yet. Probably wait and see if she fails. If she passes then I've got lots of time to decide what to do with the starting point being that I'm pretty sure she'll not pass again in another 12 months. If she fails some rather harder decisions will have to be made.
This is actually a really good idea, as it can be done in the warm, or at least the garage with a heater, buy the rear beam, a couple of new wheel bearings, hubs, new brakes and drums, as well as handbrake cables, get it all built up and ready to go on and it would make the job 10 times easier, or at least if not doing it yourself you can hand it off to the garage to fit with some of the satisfaction of having done a lot of it yourself. On top of which you'll know there is a good 5 or so years before anything on the back would need touching again.
In order for me to be on railroad property, legally, I was required to test every couple of years to obtain an "E-Railsafe Card". It was basically an ID card with my mug on it along with my employers name and the expiration date. And it meant I wasn't a terrorist. And it was also a scam.In the twenty years I carried that card, no one ever asked to see it. What the card was supposed to cover had nothing to do with my job. I was rarely ever on track. If I was, the track was either out of service or under construction. I never showed up unannounced as I was invited to repair a piece of equipment or train an operator.
I bring this up because I got a call to renew it. I've been retired for over a year.
I bring this up because I got a call to renew it. I've been retired for over a year.
Is it because there is a renewal fee that they can charge you.
Dingdingding.
It’s always the same with trade ‘regulatory training/accreditation’ bodies…it’s one reason I haven’t kept up my CMIOSH, although I can get a discount for now being retired from H&S, I’m not bloody earning anything and my pension is better spent on stout! As for rarely having to show my membership card, it meant nothing to the jobsworths wanting a CITB card at construction sites!
After my course at Bournemouth, I came away with C&G Motor Vehicle Technician, and an IMI Diploma in Automobile Engineering, which qualified me for MIMI membership. I maintained that membership for many years, whilst in the trade, and latterly working in technical roles in Unipart. Sadly, few people in the trade knew what it meant, apart from other members. I gave up my membership in 2004, having left the industry and become a driving instructor. It didn't seem relevant any more, and not worth the high cost.I only got as far as a Student member of IMI and have never had to show my qualifications in all my working life, always being fairly local I was well known, or notorious, I am not sure which.
The impression I've gained as the years have rolled on is that me gaining the qualifications and subsequent full membership of the institute was much more valuable and useful to the college than it ever was to me! During our years living in and around the London area I found employers had heard of it but were not particularly impressed. The City and Guilds interesting them much more. When we moved back to Scotland it was who you'd worked for and their references first, even C&G held very little sway and I was never asked to bring the certificates in. The benefits gained from IMI membership were far outweighed by the cost of membership subscriptions.
The Panda Nut
Nutty about Pandas Infected by Panda virus and OPD
Lovely, much like places that ask you to fill in your name 3 times on their web sites. But, not a terrorist? Well thats a bit of a leap mate, its only an E Card! You could have forged it.
I worked in Health and Safety and had to go on some 'fancy' sites, Rail, ICI, British Aero Space, Military Barracks and Dockyards, and worst of all the Oil refinery in Hull. The latter being the most stupid of all. Changing PPE and badges for different areas.... walking up the road to insepct mainly grounds. Some of the precautions were amusing! I should have kept all the passes it would cause endless amusement sending them back saying "found on a beach in Acapulco".
Last edited:
The Panda Nut
Nutty about Pandas Infected by Panda virus and OPD
Well, yesterday actually. My delivery from S4P arrived just in time as I had just removed the pollen filter from Peanut. SO I opened up my £217 parcel and NO pollen filters. Apologies to S4P fro calling them rude things only to find yours truly had not ordered the pollen filters or Noops TA air filter. What a wally I had to pay par more locally and now need to build up another order to get the necessary stock. I suppose I can buy some gearbox oil as well. Once again shop4parts delivered great value in double quick time. (Highly recommended)
