Reply to: This is what I have to work with....

[dack]

Some lady in the office has just discovered she has some lights in her kitchen 7 years after moving in.

Apparently they were under unit lights and although the switch was next to the main light switch she didn't press it for seven years and never wondered what it did.


FFS!

Class.

It is a treat when you get to sit next to normal, non techie folk and ear wig their conversastions.

I once overheard two ladies behind me having a lenghty conversation on arranging to bring in some hair tongs for one to lend to the other. After 10 minutes of detailed logistical planing, a fellow contractor sitting next to me put his head in his hands and says aloud "Somebody shoot me!!!".

[JoJoGabor]

Another angry accusation I did was on a road trip with a really bad hangover. Every time I looked ay my new ipod the screen looked cracked, and I asked angrily who had broken my ipod. But then when I went to a shop it was fine again. Back in the car it was broken. Very confusing!!!

After about 2 hours of this happening I realised it was my polarised sunglasses made the screen looked cracked.

Again, very embarassing

[JoJoGabor]

We thought our electric windows had failed. It was less embarrassing than it might have been, since it took the mechanic a few minutes to realise we'd pressed the button (which we never knew existed) to disable them.

This happened to me too, although it happened when the car had been in the garage and I took the car back ranting at their incompetency at breaking the electric windows when repairing a leaky radiator. He calmly walked over to the car, pressed the switched and said "Try now".

I felt like a right t1t.

[IR35 Avoider]

Was in Rome recently and every single toilet I went to in cafes/bars etc had no knobs to turn the tap on for washing hands. I thought they were all automatic ones that just didn't work. Then I looked down in one of them and it had a pad you stood on which turned on the water. Very hygienic, they should have that everywhere.

Starting my first job after leaving university, corporate HQ was a luxurious new building (had six-storey high atrium with waterfall and palm trees) and in the gents (ankle deep carpets and extremely dim lighting) I had to wait for someone to show me how to turn on the water. I assumed there was something in the floor and was tapping all over the place, but turned out just to be a motion sensor, which in 1986 was something I'd never encountered before.

[Halo Jones]

So from this thread I can conclude that you're everywhere and there is no hope for me.

But where would you be without us

[d000hg]

JOIN US

[Sockpuppet]

So from this thread I can conclude that you're everywhere and there is no hope for me.

[alreadypacked]

Early in my car owning days, I owned a Mitsubishi hatchback.

One day, the lights in the dash pod appeared to have stopped working/dimmed really low so when driving at night, it was difficult to see the dials.
I thought the bulb had died so removed the dash pod to replace the bulb but couldn't see how to open it so ended up just re-installing it and thought I would just have to live with it.

A few days later I stumbled across a switch/dial on the dash which could be 'rolled' to adjust the brightness of the light in the dash - I must have inadvertently 'rolled' it to its lowest setting!

That happened to a guy I know, until he realised he still had his sun glasses on

[Clever Hans]

My mates little lad was 8 years old, and obssessed with cars, when I had a TVR he used to annoy me by running round it saying "that bits off a peuguot*, that bits off an Escort, etc.", and not showing the proper worship due from a little lad of a TVR.

When I turned up in my company Golf, he shouted "Is that a Golf Match? (there's no badge that says so, he could tell from the trim), do you want to read my Golf brochure", then disappeared upstairs to bring it down.

To humour him I sat there reading it with him.

Turned out my car - which I'd had for 9 months by then - had CRUISE CONTROL. Woo hoo! Would never have one without now. Will always check manuals as well when taking ownership.


*gave up trying to spell it, shifted e, u, etc. around. Could've googled I know.

[scooterscot]

This one time,

We got our gas central heating system replaced, which meant removing a old immersion water heater or something.

The guy removing it said how long have you had it on for? I say's what? He say's this switch the one with the little red light? I say's that, heck that's being like that since we moved in er in 2007. He nearly swallowed his tongue. He had to leave it in the off position for a couple of days to allow it to cool down or something.

[zeitghost]

Then there wer the Fords where the wipers were driven by the crankshaft. Change down a gear if they were too slow.

I remember the Ford Popular back in the 50s that had vacuum operated wipers that slowed down as you opened the throttle to drive up hills.

Most amusing around here.

[Clippy]

Early in my car owning days, I owned a Mitsubishi hatchback.

One day, the lights in the dash pod appeared to have stopped working/dimmed really low so when driving at night, it was difficult to see the dials.

I thought the bulb had died so removed the dash pod to replace the bulb but couldn't see how to open it so ended up just re-installing it and thought I would just have to live with it.

A few days later I stumbled across a switch/dial on the dash which could be 'rolled' to adjust the brightness of the light in the dash - I must have inadvertently 'rolled' it to its lowest setting!

[Sysman]

It might do something similar when you hold the lock/unlock button on the key fob

Rather amusing how most of the car ownership stories in this thread are caused by not RTFM!

As I once found out if you buy next year's model this year they haven't always got the manual right. It was a while before I discovered the "one quick touch" trick to get the windows all the way up or down on that car.

[Spacecadet]

Had one of those moments on Sunday. Realised that if you hold the key in one direction or t'other for a wee while, you can either close all the windows of the car when locking up, or open them all upon opening the door. We never actually put the key in the lock anyway so not surprised we hadn't stumbled across that feature. Maybe I should actually RTFM.

It might do something similar when you hold the lock/unlock button on the key fob

Rather amusing how most of the car ownership stories in this thread are caused by not RTFM!

[russell]

Was in Rome recently and every single toilet I went to in cafes/bars etc had no knobs to turn the tap on for washing hands. I thought they were all automatic ones that just didn't work. Then I looked down in one of them and it had a pad you stood on which turned on the water. Very hygienic, they should have that everywhere.