HELP! I'm being surrounded by idiots.

[Danno]

What an idiot filled day today was.

Idiot number 1 = G.M. engineer.
I had a corroded and leaking freeze plug in the engine in my van. A new freeze plug cost about $1.00 but it is located under the engine mount so it involves removing 7 "nearly impossible to get at" bolts to just get the bad freeze plug out. I notice that the 3 bolts that hold the upper engine mount to the engine block have holes in the center of them. I get 6 of the 7 bolts out and as I'm removing the 7th it breaks off. Why did it break? Because some idiot put a hole in the center of it for some stupid unknown reason and said hole probably reduced the bolts strength by at least half. Now I have a nightmare of removing the broken bolt. Thanks you idiots at G.M.

Idiot number 2 = dog walker.
As I'm driving to the auto parts store to get the freeze plug I notice the neighborhood dog walker who does not pick up after his large dog. Several times during the summer he has allowed his dog to poop on my back alley grass and did not clean it up.
Well today I decided to watch a little bit and I finally saw him repeat the process with my own eyes. I called the police on him and they spoke to him at his home. He admitted to police that his dog did poop where I showed the officer but he didn't "think it was a problem". The officer set him straight and the man promised to clean up after his dog from now on.

Idiot number 3 = city employees, possibly The Mayor.
Several weeks ago I noticed several sidewalk squares on my street that were marked for removal and replacement. There was nothing wrong with them. They were not high or low either. Concerned about waste of resources and taxes I took a picture of them and sent the picture to Mayor Sabonjian and questioned why they were being replaced. Well, today I noticed they were removed and will be replaced. Those sidewalk squares were probably 50 years old and not cracked or defective in any way. They had withstood the test of time. I'll include a picture of them here. You be the judge. The sad part is there were others just like them that were also replaced even though it was not necessary but I did not photograph them.

Idiot Number 4 = Food Stamp Queen at Aldi- Federal and State Government.
I stop at Aldi on my way to the auto parts store. The food stamp queen in front of me in the checkout line pays for $150 worth of groceries with a LINK card. She then gets $200 in CASH on her LINK card. I say something about it and the guy behind me can’t believe what he is seeing. He says she can go out and get some alcohol now.

Idiot number 5 = Advance Auto Parts Employee.
I finally get to the auto parts store. I bought a single 15/8” freeze plug there last week for $.99. This week however is entirely different. Freeze plugs are no longer available singly. I have to buy a pack of 10 assorted sizes for $10. Buy 10, use 1, throw away 9.….IDIOTS!

[OhBrother]

Those concrete slabs look old and ratty. They should be replaced. It's called being pro-active. I bet if they let them sit there until they cracked you'd bitch too.
Maybe the auto part store was just out of the single pack. Did you look elsewhere?
I'll give you the dog poop issue.
Are you a automobile engineer? How do you know theres' not a reason for that hole.

Not everything is a conspiracy. Sometimes the only idiot is that guy in the mirror.

[TypesWithFist]

The sidewalk squares may look old, but in no way are they ratty. Considering the city is in the hole finacially, why spend money replacing a sidewalk that is in good condition? Stupidity reigns!

[Danno]

Those concrete slabs look old and ratty. They should be replaced. It's called being pro-active. I bet if they let them sit there until they cracked you'd bitch too.
Maybe the auto part store was just out of the single pack. Did you look elsewhere?
I'll give you the dog poop issue.
Are you a automobile engineer? How do you know theres' not a reason for that hole.

Not everything is a conspiracy. Sometimes the only idiot is that guy in the mirror.

Ok, I'm sure I'm up to 6 now. You get to guess who the 6th idiot is.

So by extension of your logic we should get rid of everything that's old and subject to your defined criteria of "ratty"? In my opinion the concrete has withstood time well and has a beautiful, well aged "patina". The concrete slabs have been there for probably 50 years. If they have not cracked yet what makes you think there are going to crack anytime soon. As I said in the OP "they have withstood the test of time". Yes, concrete can deteriorate from the effects of acid rain but this process is very slow. Odds are that if they have survived the last 50 years they will survive another 50 years just fine. There is however a better chance that the new concrete will either be adorned with gang grafitti or crack in a relatively short time. There are sidewalk squares on the same area that are in much worse condition that did not get replaced (see pictures below).


The auto parts store, ADVANCE AUTO PARTS on Belvidere and Lewis sells only the assortment pack. I asked and was told that by the clerk. No more single freeze plugs...period. The point of my story was relative to that particular store and not whether a single freeze plug was available anywhere else on Planet Earth.

It would have been nice if the police officer told the guy to go clean up the poop.

I am not an automobile engineer. For one to assume that to understand a single techinical aspect of mechanical engineering such as the relative strength of a threaded fastener that one has to be an "automotive engineer" should serve as direct evidence of stupidity. That implies that one can only expound on, or possibly have knowledge of, only the subject matter that person holds a degree in. again, stupidity at it's finest. I am a machinist and inventor and I have repaired, designed and built many many things throughout my life. I have dismantled and re-assembled entire automobiles. Motor mount bolts are usually grade 5 or 7. I can see no known reason for intentionally weakening a motor mount bolt by creating one with a hollow center. The only advantage that I can see is that after the bolt breaks off ( by virtue of being weakened by said hole) there is already a hole for the "easy out" (do you even know what an "easy out" is?).


The most abundant element in the universe is stupidity.... Francis Vincent Zappa

[Danno]

Those concrete slabs look old and ratty. They should be replaced. It's called being pro-active. I bet if they let them sit there until they cracked you'd bitch too.
Maybe the auto part store was just out of the single pack. Did you look elsewhere?
I'll give you the dog poop issue.
Are you a automobile engineer? How do you know theres' not a reason for that hole.

Not everything is a conspiracy. Sometimes the only idiot is that guy in the mirror.

By the way. Your spin on the concept of the word "proactive" is idiocy in itself. That would be analogous to cutting down perfectly healthy 50 year old trees and replacing them with seedlings and calling it "proactive". And where is this 'proactive' approach when it comes to grafitti or litter?

[Danno]

Does anyone know who marks off the sidewalks that get replaced? Is it someone from public works or maybe the alderman?

[newton]

If we only had a few more Dannos asking good questions, demanding forthright answers, and absolutely, unequivocally refusing to shut up. Not to speak of putting together and pulling off year after year after year, totally without city recognition until recently, the best antique show in the business. Is he or is he not Waukegan's Michael Moore?

[OhBrother]

Is he or is he not Waukegan's Michael Moore?

ROTFLMAO!!!!!!! I couldnt agree moore!!!!!

[Danno]

Thanks for the compliments Newt.

Oh Brother, you don't have much of substance as a response. What happened? Where is your oh so vast wisdom as to why the uncracked sidewalk needed replacing while the cracked sidewalk did not?

[Danno]

Idiot Number 7 - At least the old sidewalk was straight.