Scary lack of knowledge and responsibility !

[J4CKO]

My mates daughter posted this on Facebook, she is a lovely girl but it does worry me a little !


"Actually proud of me and (her mate, name removed) for managing to put windscreen wash in my car!! Don't think I'll remember how to open the bonnet though..."


I suggested perhaps a little bit of instruction on how to do the basics and she posted,

"That's what dad's are for!"


Jesus, I see Feminism is selective and doesn't cover mundane jobs to keep your car roadworthy, she did have a bad accident the other week where she ended up with the car on its roof,


Regarding the accident, she said

"The road was extremely wet when it happened and the police said that it was solely down to the weather conditions"


Er, do the Police tell people that ? cars do not throw themselves off the road, how come every other car didn't leave the road ? perhaps they werent going too fast in an old banger on bald/under inflated ditchfinders ? ok anyone can have an accident but sometimes you need to hold your hand up.



I wrote a load of notes for my eldest when he started driving, I showed him stuff, made him do an oil change, showed him a brake change, lads are generally a little more interested but it scares me that the "dad will do it" attitude prevails.

I will try and post my notes up if anyone is interested, I did it in case I forgot to tell him anything, the stuff you dont get told about driving.

I think driving feels all nice and easy after the initial learning curve but there is so much additional stuff people should know, for when it doesn't go as planned.

[J4CKO]

My youngest is having lessons, I will do these bits with him and let them concentrate on teaching the actual driving, I think living in the same house as me they probably have picked a bit more up than I would expect but I guess in a lot of households the bonnet never comes up.

[J4CKO]

eldar said:

AH33 said:

The actual act of driving is about 5th or 6th in the list of priorities of the average woman driver. They don't care about it, why should they pay attention?

Not restricted to women drivers. Some men are equally deficient.

Yeah, lets not get all "Gene Hunt" with seventies style sexism, my point was really that the Dad/Man will do it is actually the kind of thing ladies have been battling against and really.

They are letting the side down by being clueless on this kind of thing, you cant campaign tirelessly for equality and then say "that's a mans" job, go and say household chores like ironing, hoovering and cooking are "women work" and see how far you get !

I am all for equality, but it is a two way street.

[J4CKO]

chrisb92 said:

What exactly should people know about their cars? I know the phone number for my break down company and that is good enough for me? In fact, I bought a new car yesterday and Audi have stuck something on the windscreen with a number for me to call should I break down in the next 2 years that my car is in warranty. My girlfriends Mercedes has a similar number to call and they come and fix your car.

So, you need to break down and call a man before you deal with anything ?

So, you are on the motorway, and you are out of screenwash, its been cold and the gritters have been out, do you not know how to stop and top it up ?

Audis are known to use oil, do you just call for a new engine because you didn't check it every few weeks ?

Do you drive round with a bald, defective or damaged tyre for the sake of a cursory inspection occasionally ?

Perhaps do some basic checks, this isn't difficult and avoid having to wait at the side of the road for a tow truck ?


Please, never, ever become a pilot !

[J4CKO]

CharlesdeGaulle said:

motco said:

... still thinks, despite my pointing out the error of his ways, that the oil warning light coming on means top-up needed.

Isn't that exactly what it means?

its the "Gravy Boat" light, I read a tale that a chap came home to a screwed engine, knocking its tits off and he asked his partner if there had been any lights and she said "no, nothing, well actually, just the gravy boat one"

So, the imminent danger of a five grand bill is what it should be called but it looks like a gravy boat, what did she think a gravy light would signify, in what context do cars need or care about meat juice based sauces ?

[J4CKO]

Europa1 said:

CharlesdeGaulle said:

motco said:

... still thinks, despite my pointing out the error of his ways, that the oil warning light coming on means top-up needed.

Isn't that exactly what it means?

My understanding is it means more than that - that it actually means "get off the road asap because your engine is dangerously low on oil and if you drive it much further you'll damage it (possibly irreparably). Not "you'll do it at the weekend if you remember instead of watching the X-Factor repeat on Sunday."" - which would need an unfeasibly large warning light.

Edited by Europa1 on Wednesday 20th July 14:06

Nope, it means, you have failed at cars, stop immediately, top it up and hope for the best, preferably part ex it asap, so J4CKO can buy it

[J4CKO]

SturdyHSV said:

J4CKO said:

I am all for equality, but it is a two way street.

That's hilarious, do you have any upcoming gigs where I could pay to see more of this humour?

I know it should be a two way street, and it just perpetuates the problem to joke otherwise, but come now, men are the chimpish oafs at the butt of marketing jokes, that is our place. To be the simple minded moron who tries so hard but always gets it wrong, because we're just men, like Homer Simpson.

Now back to your lager and football, you childish oaf, and don't forget to carry all the shopping in at once and treat that as a huge victory because you're a blithering simpleton, whilst your good lady diversifies her investment portfolio on her iPad and rolls her eyes at you

Lol, bang on !

Chris Hemsworth in the new Ghostbusters is a case in point, I am not going to be a male Germaine Greer or anything and can deal with a bit of stick but its going too far the other way now.

ladies are just as capable as men apart from the whole standing up to pee thing and no we cant produce a baby as a party piece but aside from that and an average difference in ultimate physical strength/height, the rest of it is pretty much evens for capability.

[J4CKO]

RizzoTheRat said:

My Mrs once phoned me up to ask what one of the warning lights on my car was as it had come on while she was driving it. After a few attempts at her describing it I realised she meant the tyre pressure light...the one that looks like the carcass of a tyre with a bloody great exclamation mark in the middle.

The handbook was in the glovebox but she hadn't thought to look for that.

It was only some time later that I discovered she'd driven home before calling me, on the assumption that it probably wasn't that important

I think people always assume on Road Wars, Police Camera Action or similar that a car running on its rims with sparks flying off is some kind of absconding criminal trying to escape the long arm of the law, but it may just be the same scenario as you describe

[J4CKO]

StottyEvo said:

J4CKO said:

Jesus, I see Feminism is selective and doesn't cover mundane jobs to keep your car roadworthy, she did have a bad accident the other week where she ended up with the car on its roof,


Regarding the accident, she said

"The road was extremely wet when it happened and the police said that it was solely down to the weather conditions"

The absolving of responsibility is what concerns me the most. She rolled a car onto its roof and genuinely doesn't believe she's at all at fault

In person, I've upset quite a few people over the years by telling them that something is their fault while they figuratively poke their fingers in their ears and shout la la la.

Yeah, seems to be a trait, years ago, my cousin crashed into the car in front and said it wasnt her fault as her tyres were bald she is now a Police Officer herself !

I reversed into the neighbours car some years ago, it was my fault, I wanst looking properly, mitigated by privacy glass, a black car parked against a dark green hedge but at the end of the day my fault entirely for not looking properly.

If you leave the road, with no other cars involved and no extreme circumstances (mechanical failure, sheep etc) its your driving.

[J4CKO]

w00tman said:

So, in the interests of self-learning and all of that, how does one go about learning how to do bits and pieces around the car?

I'm a big fan of driving and cars, but outside of topping up of various fluids, checking tyre depth, the real basic-of-the-basics, I couldnt tell you how or what to do to sort brakes, or diagnose a fault or ...

How does a beginner (mechanically speaking if not shown in age!) start to learn how to do more without f*cking it all up?

Don't shoot me!!

Ask the person who knows about cars to show you, separate and distinct for "get them to do it", go on Facebook, have a brew.

Night school courses, I did one years ago, learnt a bit but I was already more advanced than a lot of the folk on it, good to have access to the tutors knowledge and workshop though.

Read the manual, radical I know but its not hard, just have a go, or just a look, sizing up things gets it straight in your head and something mysterious can soon seem obvious.

Youtube is your friend, an amazing resource, use it !

[J4CKO]

Skyrat said:

J4CKO said:

I will try and post my notes up if anyone is interested, I did it in case I forgot to tell him anything, the stuff you dont get told about driving.

Please do, I'd be interested.

Ok, I only have one copy, I lost the original electrionic copy so I need to scan them in, anyone know of any free OCR software so I can whip it into shape ?

[J4CKO]

daddy cool said:

J4CKO said:

"Actually proud of me and (her mate, name removed) for managing to put windscreen wash in my car!!

J4CKO said:

she did have a bad accident the other week where she ended up with the car on its roof,

Was that when all the windscreen wash fell out the car?

A different car arrived withing a few days.

[J4CKO]

I think it goes in a too hard, too much of a faff, potentially expensive box which only gets opened when it absolutely has to, i.e. MOT time, someone I know was telling everyone how bad her Galaxy was because she had to spend a grand, and refreshingly she got told that a grand after three years of doing nothing is not too bad, she was pleased with her set of new LingLongs though, much cheaper, savvy shopper defeats the evil motoring industry !

To be fair, I dont lavish care on Washing Machines, my mower never gets anything done unless it doesnt work and I am sure there will be something in the manuals about maintenance.