Letter to Branches No. 88/13 Minor Repairs

[DGP1]

It's a bit like,oh there's summin wrong with the sorting machine,hold on I've a spanner i'll fix it.
Seriously Tman.

Nothing like the same at all. The idea that "I could be a mechanic (even though I'm too helpless to even change a wheel) but don't want to be, I'd rather be a postie,so there" is laughable.

OK, I'm quite capable of doing minor fixes on vehicles, or repairing things around the office so I can probably repair the sorting machines.........I'm sure I would be a lot cheaper than employing expensive engineers
But if I am to do that then I put others out of a job (that I really don't have time to do) so what would you prefer?

[Tman]

I don't know, how capable are you? Surely every postie can't be as inept as Fishy claims to be, so what's wrong with doing simple bits and pieces when the on-call mechanic is 30 minutes away?

Then again, there's a parallel with a remote MPU recently where the operators decided to go and get some tools from the cycle mechanic's workshop to have a go at the CSS which had an apparently minor fault they felt able to fix. They f*cked it up so badly it was out of service until sometime the following morning, so in reality far from taking work away from the skilled blokes you're actually making more for them, so go for it. I'm sure the mechanics will thank you for it.

[DGP1]

I don't know, how capable are you? Surely every postie can't be as inept as Fishy claims to be, so what's wrong with doing simple bits and pieces when the on-call mechanic is 30 minutes away?

Then again, there's a parallel with a remote MPU recently where the operators decided to go and get some tools from the cycle mechanic's workshop to have a go at the CSS which had an apparently minor fault they felt able to fix. They f*cked it up so badly it was out of service until sometime the following morning, so in reality far from taking work away from the skilled blokes you're actually making more for them, so go for it. I'm sure the mechanics will thank you for it.

I don't know, I'm a really quick learner, I can repair my computers, the plumbing, the electrical in my house so I think I could repair a simple conveyer belt without the need for an expensive engineer

[POSTMAN]

I don't know, how capable are you? Surely every postie can't be as inept as Fishy claims to be, so what's wrong with doing simple bits and pieces when the on-call mechanic is 30 minutes away?

Then again, there's a parallel with a remote MPU recently where the operators decided to go and get some tools from the cycle mechanic's workshop to have a go at the CSS which had an apparently minor fault they felt able to fix. They f*cked it up so badly it was out of service until sometime the following morning, so in reality far from taking work away from the skilled blokes you're actually making more for them, so go for it. I'm sure the mechanics will thank you for it.

That's easily fixed pardon the pun,get all the operators on a course,loads of bods trained to do the most common fixes,get rid of most of the engineers or all of them then outsource,call them in when the big stuff happens...

Again seriously Tman,you're out doing yourself with this one.And all because of your attitude towards us.

[dvbuk55]

As for getting my hands dirty fixing things - no - I leave that to the grease monkeys - so named because.........well obvious really.

[fishtank]

So funny when someone blatantly argues the opposite to what they believe just to troll.
Ten-thumbed posties with spanners in their mits would normally have you rolling about laughing Tman.
You'll be arguing for it to be resourced by seniority next.

[Tman]

That's easily fixed pardon the pun,get all the operators on a course,loads of bods trained to do the most common fixes,get rid of most of the engineers or all of them then outsource,call them in when the big stuff happens..

.

That was RM's intended plan a while back. Introduce so-called "technical operators" to do the mundane stuff and leave major stuff for the big boys, but it hasn't gone that way at all.
The IOSH regs say people need in-depth training if they're even going attempt to use tools safely and RM is too cash-strapped to pay for the training of a sizeable number of operators required.
Then there's the culpability aspect; how would RM differentiate between someone who made a mistake and broke something and someone who purposely broke something while attempting repairs in order to get a longer tea break, earlier finish, etc?
So that little idea was quietly dropped.

Again seriously Tman,you're out doing yourself with this one.And all because of your attitude towards us.

Playing that same old whining song eh? You're a grade that doesn't use tools and for good reason, so don't make out it's somehow my decision, though when people admit that they can't even change a wheel on their car, that decision seems entirely justified.

[fishtank]

though when people admit that they can't even change a wheel on their car, that decision seems entirely justified.

Go back through the thread and quote the bit where people admit they can't change a wheel on their car.

[Tman]

So how do both of you get on with wheel-changing and minor repairs to your own cars then? Take it to a local garage?

Yes.

Ah I see. You're going to play the semantic "I didn't say I can't" card then? So you're asking me to actually believe that by choice you pay the local garage (at £50 or so an hour) to change a wheel? On posties' wages?
Sure you do Fish, sure you do.. If true, that's even worse than admitting you're clueless about doing it.

[fishtank]

Ah I see. You're going to play the semantic "I didn't say I can't" card then? So you're asking me to actually believe that by choice you pay the local garage (at £50 or so an hour) to change a wheel? On posties' wages?
Sure you do Fish, sure you do.. If true, that's even worse than admitting you're clueless about doing it.

My car doesn't have a spare,I don't have a choice.
It comes with a can of tyreweld.
If you buy a tyre from my local garage(at £50 or so an hour)...they fit and balance it for free.

[dvbuk55]

Not can't won't - dirty job call a grease monkey, or Greenflag, AA, RAC. Simples. If a garage mechanic gets £50 an hour you must be underpaid Tman - ever thought of retraining, you'd have a new set of tools to play with. My theory is that people with that sort of bent never get over having a meccano set, you know - pictures, set of instructions, a spanner, nuts and bolts, tongue lolling out the side of the mouth with concentration or some physical affliction.

[clashcityrocker]

Last time I attempted to change a tyre - first there was something funny about one of the nuts. I can't remember if there is one that has to be undone before the others or you needed a different tool for it.
Then the others, because they were tightened by a garage with a tool for doing that, were so tight I couldn't undo them by hand anyway.
Will I ever try again? No.
Should I be ashamed to admit it?

[fishtank]

Should I be ashamed to admit it?

I don't think you should be ashamed to admit that you don't know how to do something,this isn't primary school after all.
The real danger is when people think they know how to do something,plainly don't and get it badly wrong.
This "initiative" calls for volunteers...i'm not sure what kind of people will volunteer but judging by previous initiatives i'm not confident it will be those willing to admit their weaknesses.

[Tman]

My car doesn't have a spare,I don't have a choice.
It comes with a can of tyreweld.
If you buy a tyre from my local garage(at £50 or so an hour)...they fit and balance it for free.

Fair enough, so you've always had cars without a spare then? You must have started driving in the last few years then, unless you're now going to say "you asked what I do now rather than did then" as the get-out?

Although the original point was small repairs (rather than simply wheel changing) on RM vehicles, so in answer to why you wouldn't change a wheel, you'd reply " I don't because my car has a tin of Tyre-Weld in the boot" seems rather facile. At least the other poster pointed out that he'd asked for training re torque etc and had received none to date.

DV, you're an OAP now, and it's about time you let the hurt go from receiving that rejection slip from the local factory apprenticeship scheme fifty-odd years ago. Didn't all those years as a pongo wipe out that bitter memory? Clearly not...

[dvbuk55]

DV, you're an OAP now, and it's about time you let the hurt go from receiving that rejection slip from the local factory apprenticeship scheme fifty-odd years ago. Didn't all those years as a pongo wipe out that bitter memory? Clearly not...

When I was a youth Tman grease monkeys used to wash the dirt off their hands and put ink on them to fool the ladies into thinking they had intelligence and worked in an office............it soon became apparent they had no skill with a pen. Incidentally there used to be what was known as technical colleges then but they closed down because they couldn't get enough students to stay open because nobody wanted a mucky job. In reality though most machines now have self diagnostics with a clear indication as to what is wrong and how to put it right - like "take spanner in hand, no spanner, that's a screwdriver". I have to admit though that I did have an immense Meccano set in a huge wooden box ...............when I was a child of course.