The world's gone stupid........

[Intrepid Wheelwoman]

Around mid-day I headed out to go to my favourite mainstreet hardware store, - the one I refer to as the 'ironmongers', - because I needed some MAPP gas, but for some reason they had closed early instead of 1.00pm. 'Oh well', I thought, 'I'll go down to the big box hardware store at the end of town'. But they didn't have MAPP gas!
'We don't carry that sort of thing anymore', I was told (WHAT!!) But they did have some old stock Propane canisters on the back of a stock shelf so I purchased one of those. It was an old stock price too so took it and tried not to scowl so much.

Since I was there I thought I'd have a look around and there was virtually nuffing of interest to me except bolts which I didn't need. Everything else was plastic, - I think even the staff was plastic.... (well maybe not). No copper, no metal sections, no stick solder just wall to wall plastic stuff and the glue to go with it. Eventually I did find a genuine pair of leather work gloves which I needed and somehow I managed not to say, 'I thought this was a hardware store,' in a sarcastic tone when I paid for the gloves and the gas canister.

The farm supply stores close at 12.00 sharp on a Saturday so I'd missed them too. They tend to be far better hardware stores that the big box stores, so I don't why I bothered to go into 'plastic city' in the first place.
The council tip was nearby so I thought I'd take a look, but as I approached the scrap steel pile one of the council staff came up to me and said, 'Sorry love, you're not allowed to take anything.'
When I asked why this was so I was told that a new contractor was doing the rubbish collections now and sorting everything and they had a very strict no taking anything policy. 'Times change,' he said to me with a shrug because being an old school kind of guy he plainly thought it was daft too.

So I think the world's gone stupid. No hardware in big posh hardware stores and no more picking up useful things at the tip.

 

[2door]

Anne,
When I was a wee lad it was common to go to the 'junk yard' (auto salvage) and find the parts you needed. Now, it is almost unheard of for the yard operators to let the public go scrounging for their parts. "Insurance regulations won't allow it".

You have to tell them what you want and they'll go get it for you, charge you for the part and the labor for removing it from a junk car. I like to scrounge and look for the part that will fit and do what I want it to do. I don't always know what I'm looking for. Maybe a door latch, maybe a bracket, a thing that has no name. How do you tell a counter guy that you need something but you won't know what it is it until you see it?

Ahhh, the old days were so simple. What a shame 'progress' has lifted its ugly head.

Tom

 

[maniac57]

Been like that for years here. Too much money in scrap these days.
Scroungers like us are a dying breed.

 

[bluegoatwoods]

Sad, isn't it?

Here in the USA it's been a long time since one could just walk around the local dump and trash-pick. It was quite a common thing to do when I was a kid. But I can remember when it was starting to be discouraged. I think they were starting to worry about liability.

Nowadays the landfills are big business. Just getting in the gate costs a bundle. And there are many places that are running out of capacity. My particular location has that problem.

An actual small hardware store is getting very rare in any urban or semi-urban area. I can think of about a half dozen that have folded up in my area within the last ten years without even thinking very hard. A couple of them were quite good.

At least I can still get the hardware I need plus steel and aluminum and such at our big box stores. The closest one annoys me for various reasons. There's a better one within reach. But the trip is close to exhausting. And the stores lack soul.

When I'm in one of those places I tend to spend some time looking over the aisles and thinking, "Now, what am I forgetting?" More than once I've levelled my gaze downward and found myself looking straight in the eye of some employee who's walking my way. At that moment, he'd turn on a dime and dash down an aisle. I've no doubt at all that he did so to avoid me, thinking that I was some clueless nitwit who was about to ask where I could find nails. Or something like that.

I try not to forget that there are numerous advantages to this modern world. Yet there's something missing in the modern retail environment. It's grown anonymous and charmless.

And don't get me started on the agony of driving to and from, into and out of, these places.

Yecchhh!

 

[MotorBicycleRacing]

Ever heard of Pick Your Part?
It's self service junk parts.
Lots of them here. I have two of them close by.

Anne,
When I was a wee lad it was common to go to the 'junk yard' (auto salvage) and find the parts you needed. Now, it is almost unheard of for the yard operators to let the public go scrounging for their parts. "Insurance regulations won't allow it".

You have to tell them what you want and they'll go get it for you, charge you for the part and the labor for removing it from a junk car. I like to scrounge and look for the part that will fit and do what I want it to do. I don't always know what I'm looking for. Maybe a door latch, maybe a bracket, a thing that has no name. How do you tell a counter guy that you need something but you won't know what it is it until you see it?

Ahhh, the old days were so simple. What a shame 'progress' has lifted its ugly head.

Tom

 

[2door]

Ever heard of Pick Your Part?
It's self service junk parts.
Lots of them here. I have two of them close by.

Yep. There used to be several around but they've all closed the yards to the public but one. And he charges as much for used parts as the parts stores do. No advantage unless you need to scrounge for something odd.

I remember looking for door latches for the car in my avatar. I must have looked at a hundred cars until I found an old Isuzu with all metal latches that would fit in the doors of a 1930 Ford. It's hard to tell a scrap dealer what you need unless you can actually see it, measure it and engineer it to your application.

It's the same with auto parts stores today. Used to be the countermen/women knew cars and what they had to sell. Now all they know is how to type in the year, make and model and then tell you it has to be ordered because they don't stock it.

Tom

 

[Mike B]

Bummer dude.

http://www.lkqpickyourpart.com/locations/

But there's still two in CO

 

[Trey]

No copper, no metal sections, no stick solder just wall to wall plastic stuff and the glue to go with it.

I'm lucky to have a couple of decent hardware stores nearby, but still, about half of their wares match this description. I don't want that stuff.
I thought the customer was right?

 

[xseler]

Sad, isn't it?


When I'm in one of those places I tend to spend some time looking over the aisles and thinking, "Now, what am I forgetting?" More than once I've levelled my gaze downward and found myself looking straight in the eye of some employee who's walking my way. At that moment, he'd turn on a dime and dash down an aisle. I've no doubt at all that he did so to avoid me, thinking that I was some clueless nitwit who was about to ask where I could find nails. Or something like that.

I try not to forget that there are numerous advantages to this modern world. Yet there's something missing in the modern retail environment. It's grown anonymous and charmless.

And don't get me started on the agony of driving to and from, into and out of, these places.

Yecchhh!

Blue, come on down to my 'orange' big box store! My associates don't dodge customers --- and most can (and will) actually help with your project or 'hardware' type needs.

I owned a small neighborhood hardware store back in the 90's. When the 'blue' big box came in, it rather quickly shut me down. Oh well, it gave me the 'opportunity' to start over, financially that is.

We cater to the local contractors. With this being said, you'd think the corporate genuises that work in the ivory tower should realize the parking lot spaces and the roadway between the rows aren't conducive for work trucks........it's a wonder that fender-benders are as few as they are!

 

[Intrepid Wheelwoman]

Those propane canisters turned out to be half price according to the latest pricing so I don't know how long they'd had them. I think I'll go back next week and buy the rest

I know exactly what you mean Tom. I often can't explain what I want for a project until I see it. I don't like the big box stores because the staff always look at me as if I'm from Mars and never understand what I'm asking for.
'Do you have a 12 inch flat b@stard file with a safe edge?...... Yes it's a type of file,,,,,, you don't know what that is.... well you'll be able to recognise it because it has YOUR NAME ON IT!!!
Well I don't actually say things like that, but sometimes I think it quietly to myself.

When I was in my early twenties there was a wreckers yard I used to go to all the time and they had the most amazing old stuff from the 1920s. They weren't hungry with their prices either. But the old guy who ran the yard retired and some new sharp outfit bought the yard, sent everything off for scrap and started up a modern vehicle only yard with cars being clinically dismantled and parts being put on the shelf like it was a normal parts dealership. I don't know what their prices were like because I never set foot in the place because I had no reason to. Everything they had was boring

There are some Pick-a-Part yards around, but they tend to be in the main centres and not out here in the country. The local wrecking yard isn't too bad as the guy who owns it is a wee bit of motorhead. He has the most amazing NZ number plate collection on one wall that goes back through all the year series right into the 1930s. He has an early motorcycle number plate I want, but he won't part with it (sigh).

I think my best bet might be the local scrap merchant, only his yard is a good distance from home so I'll have to wait until I've finished the motor swap on my tricycle.

 

[bluegoatwoods]

Blue, come on down to my 'orange' big box store! My associates don't dodge customers --- and most can (and will) actually help with your project or 'hardware' type needs......

Sounds like you run a good store, xseler. It's a shame that Oklahoma City is so far away.

I should mention, though, that the behavior I mentioned above is more the exception than the rule at my local big box store. Often times I do find the employees to be perfectly decent. Sometimes it's a bit hard to get their attention. But usually they're ready enough to help.

I've remembered another complaint I have against my 'blue' big box store. I'm sometimes amazed to find that some very, very common and ordinary item is out of stock. And I find myself wondering how they can possibly allow themselves to run out of, say, ordinary 110 V duplex receptacles. Or 1/2 inch PVC 90 degree elbows or 1/2 x 1/8 inch flat steel. That's kinda ridiculous. And it happens more than it should.

I once asked an employee, "Maybe you've got something in the warehouse?" But I knew that was kinda dumb about the time I finished the question. The store is the warehouse, after all.

That employee probably told his pals something like, "Can you believe what that dummy asked me?"

But the out-of-stock problem happens enough to make me just a bit apprehensive when I go to those places.

The upside of the big box stores, though, is that I can get that hardware seven days a week at any time other than the middle of the night. That's kinda nice.

 

[Trey]

But usually they're ready enough to help.

Iv'e got an Ace Hardware next door to my job and I'm there often. My problem, believe it or not, is TOO much help. They average three to five offers of help per short visit. (They're down to about one with me now) Half the fun of the hardware store is learning where things are
By the way, on the other end of the property is an old school junk-yard. Walk around all day, find what you need, pay on the way out.
What problems!

 

[Intrepid Wheelwoman]

Iv'e got an Ace Hardware next door to my job and I'm there often. My problem, believe it or not, is TOO much help. They average three to five offers of help per short visit. (They're down to about one with me now) Half the fun of the hardware store is learning where things are
By the way, on the other end of the property is an old school junk-yard. Walk around all day, find what you need, pay on the way out.
What problems!

Ooooooo I am sooooo jealous!

 

[2door]

Iv'e got an Ace Hardware next door to my job and I'm there often. My problem, believe it or not, is TOO much help. They average three to five offers of help per short visit. (They're down to about one with me now) Half the fun of the hardware store is learning where things are
By the way, on the other end of the property is an old school junk-yard. Walk around all day, find what you need, pay on the way out.
What problems!

Yep, I hate it when I get attacked when I walk in the door. "Can I help you find anything?" Yeah, I know they're trying to be helpful but, really. I don't need that much help.

My complaint, and I've voiced it to the local Ace owner, is that they are constantly rearranging the store. I just get familiar with the place, can go right to where I want and then they change everything around.

One employee I know well told me, in confidence, that they do that to keep you searching in the hopes that you'll find more to buy. Pure marketing on their part. I told him to pass it along to his boss that it turns regular customers off. They change the store about every six months. Makes me so mad!
Leave things alone so I can find what I want!

Tom

 

[silverbear]

Just this winter our local transfer station (dump) makes you sign a waver when you come in stating that you intend to take something from the metal pile... something of a bother but mostly because you have to fill out this form in order to just look at the pile. How do you know you want something if you haven't looked and know it is there? Strange. I think it is just a matter of time before they won't allow any metal picking. Seems to me that they could simply have signs stating that you should be careful and if you remove something it is at your own risk of injury. I've gotten a lot of good bike stuff from that pile, including engines and whole bikes. Best find was a 1950 Schwinn Panther.
What I do now is always say I have something to drop off in the metal pile even if I don't. That way I can eyeball the pile to see if something jumps out at me, then go back and say that I forgot about wanting to look at the metal. Seems to me we should be encouraged to reuse things.
SB

 

[Semaj]

It's the same with auto parts stores today. Used to be the countermen/women knew cars and what they had to sell. Now all they know is how to type in the year, make and model and then tell you it has to be ordered because they don't stock it.

Tom

So true! the looks on peoples faces at Autozone and advance auto parts when I told them there was no make and model, Im starting from scratch for a bicycle.

I dont know how many times Ive called somewhere to get measurements on something to figure out if its going to work for my bike only to be asked that again, " I dont know any measurements or specs on that item,or anything else like it that might work for your application, and they are all off at some other location. but if you give me the make and year of the vehicle we will put in an order"...

 

[bluegoatwoods]

Yes. I get tired of that 'make and year' question, too. Usually when I tell them that it's not going in a car and that it's going on a different application altogether, they come around and find what I'm needing. But I've run into a few youngsters behind the cash register who seemed to be at a loss.

(A related frustration: You're actually buying something for your car. You tell them the make and year. Then they ask, "Which engine?" For a lousy windshield wiper? Gimme a break!)

Sometimes when too many employees ask if the can help me I'll say, "Yes. Can you help me find my wife?" This works better at big stores, of course. Sometimes they seem to think I'm serious about that.

 

[Intrepid Wheelwoman]

When I still owned my old Morris Minor I went into a Repco parts store to buy something for my Morris and had a youngster behind the counter look at me in bewilderment as he asked, 'Is Morris a make of car?'
Fortunately a staff member closer to my own age overheard him and came over. 'I'll take care of this one', he said and tipped me a wink.

 

[2door]

When I still owned my old Morris Minor I went into a Repco parts store to buy something for my Morris and had a youngster behind the counter look at me in bewilderment as he asked, 'Is Morris a make of car?'
Fortunately a staff member closer to my own age overheard him and came over. 'I'll take care of this one', he said and tipped me a wink.

Ha ha. Yep, the same if you own a hot rod.
Watch the look on the counterman's face when you ask for a transmission pan gasket and when he wants to know, make, modle and year, you tell him it's a 1930 Ford, 2 door sedan.
That's when I say, "just give me a pan gasket for a GM, Turbo 350 transmission." I still get a blank look and the same question, "make, model and year?" Aaaaaghhhh!

Tom

 

[silverbear]

Ever notice how few cashiers know how to make change? They hand you a bunch of coins and a few bills in a wad and it is up to you to see that it is correct.
SB

 

[xseler]

One of the questions that I can no longer ask a potential associate is......"What is 42-17?" It would blow your mind to see how many college grad-u-idiots can't come up with the answer!! Many couldn't do it even with a pen and paper.

We should be scared...........very scared!