It's All in How You Ask the Question

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I was doing some work on my "new" '07 GX470. This is my wife's new replacement for her GS300. The GX was in my garage while I do all the fluid changes, clean battery, fix parking brake, check brakes, replacing plastic clips, etc. It's been sitting there a couple of weeks. No big rush. Taking my time.

Well, I finally get back to it ready to put everything back together and I notice a piece I had removed and had laid there under the car was bent. How in the world did that happen? Nobody had driven the GX. It was metal and it couldn't have bent itself. I had moved the floor jack and maybe I had run over it.

I asked my wife had she by chance driven it. She had not.

I went back to work trying to bend this piece back. I can't as it had been squished. The next day my son came over and I told him what had happened how completely baffled I was to how the piece got bent. He doesn't know. Then the next day I'm outside blowing leaves off the driveway and I see a 10 mm socket in the driveway on the same side as the GX. I thought that was odd. I had been using that socket to work on the GX. I had never raised the garage door on that side in the last 3 weeks.

So now I changed the question. I asked, "Has anyone moved the GX? Like out of the garage?" Amazingly, my wife and son immediately responded, "We moved it back just to get room the bring the Christmas tree down."

To which I responded, "I asked both of you had you driven the GX." To which they both responded, "We didn't drive it. We just backed it up 3 feet." I see their point. I had no problem with their answer. My definition of "driving" included
cranking the engine and moving the car. Their definition was taking it on the highway.

So the bent part mystery was solved and $11 and a nice 3 hour drive Greensboro Lexus fixed me right up.

Sometimes, it's all in how you ask the question.
 
The beauty of the English language. Keeps lawers employed.

To quote Bill Clinton, "It depends on what your definition of "is", is". Lol

Glad you got the Lexus fixed up. Next time disconnect the battery cable then it won't be driven.
 
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I put in a new hot water service.
That afternoon I had complaints that people couldn't shower in straight hot water...responsorial.."there's two taps, one of which introduces cold water"
That evening I had complaints that one can't wash dishes in that water...responsorial..."there's two taps, one of which introduces cold water"
On the third day, I had a cold shower, as we'd run out of hot water...2.5 showers, and 65 gallons of hot water was depleted.

In towel, I went at checked the hot water tank...set at 110F.

Came back in and asked around
* Son didn't know that the temperature was adjustable
* daughter didn't either
* wife wouldn't know how to, and besides, never visited that part of the verandah, nor would even know what to do inside the panel.

I suggested that the hot water system was haunted, and was accused of being "stupid"...

Only other alternative (insert Holmes moment) was that vandals were walking the streets adjusting hot water service temperatures...which was declared a ludicrous argument.

So I drew ancient celtic and Nordic runes on the hot water tank designed to deter both spirits and fey folk, and have gone months without the tampering.
 
Ahh Shannow....once again you create the sublime from the ridiculous. Keep up the good work.

Apparently you drew your runes right.

Adding rune to my vocabulary.....I owe you one.
 
Originally Posted by Shannow
So I drew ancient celtic and Nordic runes on the hot water tank designed to deter both spirits and fey folk, and have gone months without the tampering.

OMG, hahahahahaaha.
 
My brother left for a weekend. Left my teenager niece at home with specific instructions not to drive his 4x4 Toyota pickup.

Got back from vacation and the truck is covered in mud in the garage. Confronts my niece about it and she swears that she didn't drive it as she was told not too.

He didn't tell her that her boyfriend could not drive it. She is now a well paid lawyer.
 
Had you not explained the reason for asking, I would then say that their explanation plausible if not likely. As it was explained at least to son, I'd consider it being purposely obtuse. Using that term to avoid using the L word. If not for the 10mm socket finding, could have remained a mystery for much longer.
 
Originally Posted by Chris142
My brother left for a weekend. Left my teenager niece at home with specific instructions not to drive his 4x4 Toyota pickup.
Got back from vacation and the truck is covered in mud in the garage. Confronts my niece about it and she swears that she didn't drive it as she was told not too.
He didn't tell her that her boyfriend could not drive it. She is now a well paid lawyer.

Oh man, if my daughter's boyfriend drove my car without my express written permission that would send me off the deep end!
I'd know that she didn't make the offer, it would have been him begging, "oh cmon lemme drive it he'll never know cmon please..."

A friend of mine told me a story about an amoral and chaotic smooth talker he knew in high school who talked his girlfriend into letting him drive her parents' car while they were all out one night...he promptly crashed it into somebody's HOUSE and quickly convinced the girl to take the blame for the accident.
Everybody in their group thought he would be dead by 20, somehow he made it to 25 before he offed himself. Think he used a gun instead of a car, apparently he couldn't control his demons...
 
Let's see, how does the joke go....
Wife in Europe, sends picture of ring to husband back in the states, asking can she buy it.

His reply was "no, price too high.."

She looks at the message and sees "no price too high" and buys it.
 
Originally Posted by thooks
Always hide the keys to any vehicle you are working on. Always.

Reminds me of a coworker who makes everyone leave the room when he puts his hand into the garbage disposal to remove a foreign object.
 
Originally Posted by AZjeff
Surprised your native aboriginals (? is that right?) recognize Celtic and Nordic runes...

What did you write? (not surprised you'd be conversant in runes!)


Top left is the Nordic one for spirits...it's similar to the helm of awe tattoo that Bjork wears, but that's for people in battle.
Right is Celtic Shield.

Bottom was the icing on the cake so to speak for the fey folk, It's a steel cross, which they apparently dislike.

The Vale of Clwydd is a little piece of Wales stuck in the mountains of NSW, so I thought them appropriate.

(yes I need to sweep)


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Originally Posted by Shannow


Only other alternative (insert Holmes moment) was that vandals were walking the streets adjusting hot water service temperatures...which was declared a ludicrous argument.



When I was a kid, some teenage kids from the neighborhood thought it would be funny to sneak around at night, turning off the main breaker on various people's houses. Some people were out of town and lost freezers full of food, aquariums with automatic feeders full of fish, and various other unforeseen consequences.

I could see young morons messing with anything that's accessible.
 
JC1 beat me to "what is is" #1 son, started speaking at 4 months. By 6 mos, he was giving us arguments. He is a lawyer now.
 
Originally Posted by JC1
The beauty of the English language. Keeps lawers employed.

To quote Bill Clinton, "It depends on what your definition of "is", is". Lol

Glad you got the Lexus fixed up. Next time disconnect the battery cable then it won't be driven.

There was a reason many people referred to Bill Clinton as "Slick Willy."
 
Originally Posted by Shannow
Bottom was the icing on the cake so to speak for the fey folk, It's a steel cross, which they apparently dislike.

Did you draw them in silver nitrate or something similar to catch familial fingers in the act?
wink.gif
 
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