Okay, let me tell you what happened. The other day on my drive in the juicer wasn't working, so on my way home (after letting it sit in the sun all day), I got some -40 juice from crappy tire and filled it up. Still didn't work. I was scared now 'cause I didn't want to replace another part on my car.
So I figured that it wasn't the sprayers that were having trouble, and the motor seemed like it was working, but I couldn't see the container or the pump because they (brilliantly) placed it over the wheel well, and behind the compartment on the car. To change / work on it, you have to take 1) take the tire off, and 2) take the wheel well out. Wonderful. Luckly we were able to just get a hose and pour hot water in it for like 5 minutes till whatever was frozen thawed. Note: start putting blue fluid in your car in September. I'm just lucky that it didn't crack anything. So after that we flushed it out and filled it up again with more -40 juice and everything should be good to go.*knock on wood*
Long story short, I was annoyed at the possibility of having to take apart the front end of my car to fix something stupid. If people are designing systems, they should have maintance in the back of their mind, because systems will always need it, not matter how well you build it. This is another thing that should be kept in mind with software, as well as with other engineering. Mind you, it's harder to think of an example where you have to take apart 1/2 of the system to fix some code, but I am sure that it exists somewhere. ;-)
Listening to: John Fogerty - Centerfield
I think the engineers designing your car were thinking of maintenance when they designed it. Unfortunately, they were thinking "Where can we put this, to make it impossible to regular Joe to fix it so that we can charge him for maintenance.
ReplyDeleteThis is really the problem. Back in the day, you used to be able to fix everything on your car. Now it has got to a point where you can't even fix a clog in your washer fluid, change a spark plug, or change your oil without a mechanic doing it for you. It really is too bad that it has come to this.
Also, i'm sure that software systems have this more than anything else. Not that you really have to tear the system apart. But bad organization can lead to problems. Not knowing where a problem is coming from is worse than knowing where the problem is, but having to take something apart to get there. At least you know that you're headed in the right direction.
Your blog sounds like "Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance" (ok, car maintenance)... I'm eagerly awaiting your book!
ReplyDeleteI usually just keep -40 windshield washing fluid in my car year-round. That way I never have to worry about it. If you buy it in bulk at Costco, it's really inexpensive.
ReplyDeleteI find that since I am always driving where there are lots of bugs in the summer, I need to get the pink juice 'cause I find it much more effective than the blue stuff. Cost isn't why I use it.
ReplyDeleteI'm just going to have to make sure that I flush out the old stuff when the leaves change colour, rather than just adding the new stuff on top. Out with the old, in with the new. ;-)
um.. I hate to say it, but could this be a RTFM issue?
ReplyDelete*ducks*
hehe.
perhaps, but I don't really think so. More of a timing thing than anything. And I guess I just wasn't using as much juice as I had in the past.
ReplyDelete