Things you always wanted to know the answer to [Vol. 4]

[Fermit and Sexy Sarah]

TTOBES said:

I'd have thought it had something to do with the rise in popularity of tinted windows making them a waste of time, and perhaps also with the dealer name (or at the least their postcode) having to be on the reg plate taking over the sticker's role. Backing plates are still quite popular.

That is true, my Saxo VTR, collected from the showroom new in 2002 had untinted (or near to) glass, most cars now are fairly heavily tinted, ours is. The moment that made me think was seeing a VTR with a dealer sticker, and recalling telling the dealer not to put one in mine, as it would come straight off.

Edited by Fermit and Sexy Sarah on Tuesday 21st May 22:41

[LimaDelta]

Fermit and Sexy Sarah said:

I have one. Whatever happened to dealer stickers in cars rear windows? Something made me think of them when driving today, and I observed cars around me for a good half hour, I'd estimate 90% of cars didn't have them. 20 years ago pretty much every car sold had a supplying dealers window sticker, those maybe 8x2" ones, in the bottom right of the rear window. Did the car dealer industry suddenly decide that they don't work?

One of the first things I do when returning home after buying a car, new or old, is remove any dealer/warranty/breakdown stickers. Not only do they look untidy, I think that if a dealer wants me to advertise for them, they should be paying me a sponsorship deal.

[Halmyre]

talksthetorque said:

Drive to Scotland. Every other car has a bright yellow slightly skew-wiff Arnold Clark sticker in the back window.

Mine didn't, I peeled it off. It was replaced after every service, and I just took it off again.

Apparently (possible urban myth alert) some tourists visiting Scotland thought they were stickers supporting a candidate in an election.

[StevieBee]

If you stand normally, it's possible for someone of even slight build to lift you clean off the ground.

If you tense yourself - as if trying to force yourself into the ground - they can't (or at least is much more difficult for them to do).

Why would that be?

[SpeckledJim]

StevieBee said:

If you stand normally, it's possible for someone of even slight build to lift you clean off the ground.

If you tense yourself - as if trying to force yourself into the ground - they can't (or at least is much more difficult for them to do).

Why would that be?

I suspect that’s not true.

[popeyewhite]

SpeckledJim said:

StevieBee said:

If you stand normally, it's possible for someone of even slight build to lift you clean off the ground.

If you tense yourself - as if trying to force yourself into the ground - they can't (or at least is much more difficult for them to do).

Why would that be?

I suspect that’s not true.

To a degree some lifts are easier than others ie fireman's lift vs same weight shoulder press, but it's the lifting technique rather than the attitude of the thing being lifted.

[captain_cynic]

SpeckledJim said:

StevieBee said:

If you stand normally, it's possible for someone of even slight build to lift you clean off the ground.

If you tense yourself - as if trying to force yourself into the ground - they can't (or at least is much more difficult for them to do).

Why would that be?

I suspect that’s not true.

That is absolutely 100% completely true, but nowhere near effective as leaning forward.

The cause is shifting your centre of mass. Tensing shifts your centre of mass down but leaning forward shifts your centre of mass forward and down so an attacker behind needs more force to lift you off the ground. The standard Krav technique to being grabbed from behind is to pretend there's a 20p coin on the ground and use and to lean forward to grab it.

Of course if you've been grabbed from behind, you're already up st creek sans paddle as they're likely to be bigger than you (no-one starts a fight they don't think they can win) and you've got maybe 2 seconds to react... maybe. Best to avoid the conflict as well as you can.

[popeyewhite]

captain_cynic said:

That is absolutely 100% completely true, but nowhere near effective as leaning forward.

I'm not sure you've addressed the issue of "lifting someone" ! A Judo throw, or whatever you want to call it, isn't a lift.

[Dr Jekyll]

There was an actor being interviewed on the radio a few months back about playing King Lear. Apparently once you're old enough to be believable in the role, carrying your supposedly dead adult daughter around the stage is something of a challenge. He reckoned the skill was on the actress's part, by tensing herself properly she avoided becoming a dead weight, Presumably it's a case of her putting her weight on the bits he was holding on to so she was less likely to fall.

[Shakermaker]

LimaDelta said:

Fermit and Sexy Sarah said:

I have one. Whatever happened to dealer stickers in cars rear windows? Something made me think of them when driving today, and I observed cars around me for a good half hour, I'd estimate 90% of cars didn't have them. 20 years ago pretty much every car sold had a supplying dealers window sticker, those maybe 8x2" ones, in the bottom right of the rear window. Did the car dealer industry suddenly decide that they don't work?

One of the first things I do when returning home after buying a car, new or old, is remove any dealer/warranty/breakdown stickers. Not only do they look untidy, I think that if a dealer wants me to advertise for them, they should be paying me a sponsorship deal.

My car definitely has a dealer sticker in the rear window, from the original dealer and I've never been bothered enough to take it off, weirdly as that's something I used to do all the time.

But these days many dealers seem to be producing their own number plates with the company details on a plate frame

[Fermit and Sexy Sarah]

Shakermaker said:

LimaDelta said:

Fermit and Sexy Sarah said:

I have one. Whatever happened to dealer stickers in cars rear windows? Something made me think of them when driving today, and I observed cars around me for a good half hour, I'd estimate 90% of cars didn't have them. 20 years ago pretty much every car sold had a supplying dealers window sticker, those maybe 8x2" ones, in the bottom right of the rear window. Did the car dealer industry suddenly decide that they don't work?

One of the first things I do when returning home after buying a car, new or old, is remove any dealer/warranty/breakdown stickers. Not only do they look untidy, I think that if a dealer wants me to advertise for them, they should be paying me a sponsorship deal.

My car definitely has a dealer sticker in the rear window, from the original dealer and I've never been bothered enough to take it off, weirdly as that's something I used to do all the time.

But these days many dealers seem to be producing their own number plates with the company details on a plate frame

That point's been mentioned a few times, but I'm not sure it's the answer. If I was in a dual carriage way queue, like I was yesterday, I'd be able to read a dealer sticker saying 'Smiths Ford of Nottingham' on the car in front, but I'd need the eyes of a Hawk to read the same details on the bottom of a number plate.

Edited by Fermit and Sexy Sarah on Wednesday 22 May 10:46

[And then she]

Shakermaker said:

LimaDelta said:

Fermit and Sexy Sarah said:

I have one. Whatever happened to dealer stickers in cars rear windows? Something made me think of them when driving today, and I observed cars around me for a good half hour, I'd estimate 90% of cars didn't have them. 20 years ago pretty much every car sold had a supplying dealers window sticker, those maybe 8x2" ones, in the bottom right of the rear window. Did the car dealer industry suddenly decide that they don't work?

One of the first things I do when returning home after buying a car, new or old, is remove any dealer/warranty/breakdown stickers. Not only do they look untidy, I think that if a dealer wants me to advertise for them, they should be paying me a sponsorship deal.

My car definitely has a dealer sticker in the rear window, from the original dealer and I've never been bothered enough to take it off, weirdly as that's something I used to do all the time.

But these days many dealers seem to be producing their own number plates with the company details on a plate frame

My car came with a fancy dealer-specific numberplate (mildly annoying) but they'd also stuck the company logo and name onto the paintwork with individual letter stickers - they came straight off!

[Drew106]

Shakermaker said:

LimaDelta said:

Fermit and Sexy Sarah said:

I have one. Whatever happened to dealer stickers in cars rear windows? Something made me think of them when driving today, and I observed cars around me for a good half hour, I'd estimate 90% of cars didn't have them. 20 years ago pretty much every car sold had a supplying dealers window sticker, those maybe 8x2" ones, in the bottom right of the rear window. Did the car dealer industry suddenly decide that they don't work?

One of the first things I do when returning home after buying a car, new or old, is remove any dealer/warranty/breakdown stickers. Not only do they look untidy, I think that if a dealer wants me to advertise for them, they should be paying me a sponsorship deal.

My car definitely has a dealer sticker in the rear window, from the original dealer and I've never been bothered enough to take it off, weirdly as that's something I used to do all the time.

But these days many dealers seem to be producing their own number plates with the company details on a plate frame

I've also seen proper stuck on badges from dealers on the rear of cars (like the 320d badge on a BMW).

There's a quite ridiculous one in Kidderminster - a garage called 'All Electric', which I can only assume comes from a time before electric cars started to be more common.

So you will have a Hyundai i20, with 'All Electric' under the i20 badge. I imagine there's a few confused people out there thinking electric cars are really taking off!

[Shakermaker]

Fermit and Sexy Sarah said:

That point's been mentioned a few times, but I'm not sure it's the answer. If I was in a dual carriage way queue, like I was yesterday, I'd be able to read a dealer sticker saying 'Smiths Ford of Nottingham' on the car in front, but I'd need the eyes of a Hawk to read the same details on the bottom of a number plate.

Edited by Fermit and Sexy Sarah on Wednesday 22 May 10:46

To be clear - this is on a frame outside the numberplate itself, so the plate still conforms to whatever regulations its meant to, but there's an extra bit around it, bigger font, clear web address and phone number too.

Another thought - are there a lot fewer dealer stickers because more people have rear tinted windows?

Not that it seems to bother Arnold Clark as was noted above

[SpeckledJim]

captain_cynic said:

SpeckledJim said:

StevieBee said:

If you stand normally, it's possible for someone of even slight build to lift you clean off the ground.

If you tense yourself - as if trying to force yourself into the ground - they can't (or at least is much more difficult for them to do).

Why would that be?

I suspect that’s not true.

That is absolutely 100% completely true, but nowhere near effective as leaning forward.

The cause is shifting your centre of mass. Tensing shifts your centre of mass down but leaning forward shifts your centre of mass forward and down so an attacker behind needs more force to lift you off the ground. The standard Krav technique to being grabbed from behind is to pretend there's a 20p coin on the ground and use and to lean forward to grab it.

Of course if you've been grabbed from behind, you're already up st creek sans paddle as they're likely to be bigger than you (no-one starts a fight they don't think they can win) and you've got maybe 2 seconds to react... maybe. Best to avoid the conflict as well as you can.

Go on, please tell me how.

[glazbagun]

What happens to shares during war?

If an Iraqi had shares in Lockheed Martin during the invasion of Iraq, would they still be recieving their dividends as usual? Likewise brit & german companies during WWII.

[simoid]

I suspect there may be more lease cars (and maybe company/fleet cars) now that don’t actually come through a dealer? So fewer dealer stickers

[SpeckledJim]

glazbagun said:

What happens to shares during war?

If an Iraqi had shares in Lockheed Martin during the invasion of Iraq, would they still be recieving their dividends as usual? Likewise brit & german companies during WWII.

I expect they're still entitled to the dividend, but there might be capital controls preventing money being moved from, for example the US to, for example Iraq.

[LimaDelta]

SpeckledJim said:

glazbagun said:

What happens to shares during war?

If an Iraqi had shares in Lockheed Martin during the invasion of Iraq, would they still be recieving their dividends as usual? Likewise brit & german companies during WWII.

I expect they're still entitled to the dividend, but there might be capital controls preventing money being moved from, for example the US to, for example Iraq.

On a related note, lets say there is another general call up (unlikely in a nuclear age). What happens if your basic squaddie pay will not cover your 600k mortgage? Will you come back from the front having survived all the horrors only to find your house repossessed?

[Clockwork Cupcake]

LimaDelta said:

On a related note, lets say there is another general call up (unlikely in a nuclear age). What happens if your basic squaddie pay will not cover your 600k mortgage? Will you come back from the front having survived all the horrors only to find your house repossessed?

One would hope that, at the very least, lenders would be forced to grant mortgage payment holidays to all people affected.

Also, those young enough to be called up are unlikely to have a big mortgage, of course.