According to the new normal, it it’s only wrong if the person profits from it. If someone profits from something that doesn’t hurt anyone else, and isn’t even illegal, now even that is becoming illegal. For example, if you load up supplies and drive them out to a disaster area to sell them at normal prices (which is still a loss since it cost you money to deliver them), you’ll be accused of profiting from a disaster.
Another blanket statement from nofyfb that has zero facts to support it.
I clearly outlined my experience. What’s your concern?
That’s not been my experience w/that parts store. While that store seldom has the part I need at the store, if I place the order in the early afternoon, they usually will have it for me to pick up at the store later that evening, delivered from their warehouse, no extra fees involved.
At another parts store, they did have to mail-order a gasket (thermostat, like yours) for my Corolla from the gasket vendor. Hard to imagine why, it’s a Corolla after all, one of the most common cars on the road. Had to wait 2 weeks for it to arrive at the parts store by mail. It arrived in a flat package nearly 36 inches by 36 inches … lol … huge package, but there was no mailing fees to me.
Perhaps there’s no local O’Reilly’s warehouse in your area?
Yes, I live in the middle of nowhere so I needed to order online to be delivered to my house. No biggie. I ended up ordering on ebay for half the price and free delivery. I just try not to step into the same puddle more than once…
BTW, the best place to order OEM parts is Dubai. I found a site that sells parts for all brands for about 30% of US stealer price including delivery. And they usually arrive faster than from some alabama. This works fine for smaller items but for large stuff, delivery eats any savings.
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Well ya gotta remember it costs money to keep a part in inventory and it also cost money for someone to select that part, put it in a box, label it and then pay for shipping. We sent a package off yesterday, $20 ups. I broke a couple plastic clips on my water softener. Had to order new ones. I think they were $2 but over $10 by the time I got done. Ever check the cost of boxes lately? Shipping and handling is just cost of getting something not in local stock.
Has to be $35 to get free delivery or shipping from O’reilly’s website, checked out of curiosity and there is one about 45mi east of where my family has roots in Flagler Colorado, right off I-70 on your way to Kansas.
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I heard he stole a kiss from Maid Marian…
I am pretty sure that forcing an employee to pay for mistakes like the paint can filling the mixing machine is illegal. You cannot do that. In the old days, really old days, employers got away with murder, literally…
The most egregious act of an employer making an employee or their family was committed by the White Star Line with the sinking of the Titanic. After the Titanic sank, the families of the band members were billed By White Star Line for the cost of the uniforms worn as the band members even though they all died. And to think, the band members were probably the greatest heroes of sinking. They knew they were probably going to die, but they continued to play trying to comfort those left onboard.
Now, in the military, it’s different, I was tasked on several occasion to act as a Survey Officer to determine responsibilities of anyone involved with a material loss. The duty was to look at the loss with a critical eye and determine what a reasonable person would or should have done… So, as an impartial investigator, we only determined if the loss was a deliberate, negligent, or accidental act.
If the responsible party cause the loss through a deliberate act, they could be held pecuniary responsible for the entire loss.
If the responsible party causes the loss through a negligent act, they could be held pecuniary responsible for some to all of the loss.
If the responsible party cause the loss completely by accident, they would not be held pecuniary responsible for any of loss.
The most expensive incident I investigated was at a SAC Base back in '84, when a Supervising Non Commissioned Officer (E-6 Tech Sergeant) drove his aircraft mechanics in a step-van (like a UPS Truck…) out to service a B-52 Bomber. It was lightly raining, so he sent one of his young airmen to guide him backing up to the aircraft. Mistake one: you do not back up towards an Aircraft. Mistake two: he never instructed his young airman on the hand signals nor what to look out for and it was really more like “mo back…” and the young airman guided the step-van right into the wing… Mistake three: the sergeant panicked and quickly drove forward, while looking out the back doors to see if the plane was going to catch fire, and he ran into the side of the aircraft… Mistake four: Now, he really panicked, he leaves his repair crew there with the banked up aircraft and he drives back to the shop to tell his boss, so he left the scene of an accident…
In this case, he did not cause it deliberately nor by accident, it was plain and simply a series of a negligent acts… We are not told the resolution of the investigations so I do not know if he is still trying to pay off that bomber (L o L . . . )
In another case, in 1985 (before cellphones), I investigated the loss of a Handheld Tactical Radio. A squadron commander (Full Colonel O-6) drove off base to get a haircut and he carried his radio with him. After the haircut, he went next door to a quicky mart and picked up a cup of coffee and something to eat. When he went back to the car he placed the radio and coffee on the roof of the car and after unlocking the door, he retrieved the coffee, but forgot the radio as he was “snickering” about a previous time when he left his coffee on the roof and drove off (he told me this…). So he backs up, he hears a thump, but thinks nothing of it until he feels his car lurch as the front tire runs over the radio.
In this case, I found “extreme” negligence, carrying that radio was not something new to him and the cup of coffee was more important than the very, very expensive tactical radio was. In this instance, I found out the results as the colonel came after me to complain about being found financially responsible the entire loss of the radio… He thought he could order me to change my findings… Ha, I was an E-9 Chief Master Sergeant and we only obey the orders we want to… (not really, but we do say that…). I laughed and told him I’ll have to try the quicky mart’s coffee, it must be something really special for a $1,000 plus a cup.
One other case, a lieutenant shared an office with anther lieutenant. Both had desktop computers for work, but shared a laptop computer. One of them mentioned that he needed the laptop to take home to do some work and the other had it on his desk. So, the one with the laptop decides to toss it over to the lieutenant, but toss is too low and it hits the edge of the desk and falls onto the floor. The scene is cracked, and the tossing lieutenant gets the “bright idea” to step on it and claim it fell onto the floor as he was walking into the office. Mistake 1: he did not check to see if the other lieutenant would back him up (he did not…), and mistake 2: there was someone in the hallway who saw him stomp the laptop…
In this case, I found the loss was a deliberate act and the lieutenant was responsible for the cost of the computer and he faced disciplinary action too.
Remember, life in the military is whole different ball of wax. As a civilian, if you don’t go to work, what is the worse that can happen, you get fired. If a military member does not go to work, they can get reduced in rank (loss of prestige and pay), they could be put in confinement (jail), they could be discharged with a bad conduct or dishonorable discharge (worse than a felony conviction), and in the very worse situation, a firing squad…
We in the military have raised our right hand, taken and oath, and signed the “Unlimited Liability Waiver” (Yeah, there is a name for it… we might have to die for our country…).
And it is a serious issue, it’s not like if we go rogue and steal a forklift or a bulldozer. We have automatic weapons, we have tanks, we have aircraft with a gatling gun, missiles, and bombs, and so many more toys of mass destruction, we must be held to higher standard…
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Heh heh. I was just kidding the guy. Thing is I needed four or five gallons and they only had four in stock. Three after she left the cover loose in the shaker. I almost offered to just take what was left to use as a base coat.
You reminded me that we only got night sticks not weapons because they said folks on guard duty were beaten up and had the m16s stolen. So I was telling the story at our little monthly get together today, I’m pretty sure it was ft Bragg at summer camp. We were way out in the boonies and I had the 2:00, 3:00 shift at guard duty. No lights, just a night stick and there was a big shadow coming around the building. Turns out it was a big steer. They had cattle roaming around all over out there. I didn’t have to pay for my pants though. It was about 1975 so I might be a litle fuzzy on the details but those cows were big. Should have had bells on. Smoke em if ya got ‘em.
In the early '70s when I first entered the Air Force, I was a Combat Arms Instructor. We ran the outdoor “heavy weapons shooting range” (M-16, M-60, Shotgun, and the 40mm Grenade Launchers-the M203 under barrel for the M-16, and the M79 that looked like a shotgun…)
Remember, we were the Air Force, those were our "Heavy Weapons, we did not have artillery or tanks…) and we ran the indoor handgun range. At first, handguns were the Colt M1911-45 caliber and then later they changes over to the S&W Model 10 in .38 caliber. When I enter the Air Force in 1971 the Security Police (SP) were only the gate guards and not the Security Forces (guarding armed aircraft, ammo dumps, etc…) and they only carried the .45, but they were not allowed to insert the magazine and the top bullet in the magazine was painted RED.
In the late '60s, an SP was clearing his weapon by holding it up in the air over his shoulder and did not follow the written procedures… The procedures were; stand in front of the “Clearing Barrel” (a 55-gallon drum, filled with sand, and mounted at a 45 degree angle), remove the magazine while pointing it into the barrel, cock the weapon, visually look to see that there was no round in the chamber and then while pointing the weapon in the barrel, dry-fire it.
Back then not all procedures were always followed to the letter. If they had we would not have lost a wing of the finance building when it burned down when someone emptied their ashtray into the trash can rather than into the Fireproof Butt Can…
But I digress, the SP cocked his weapon, did not looking into the chamber, then he removed the magazine, not realizing he had chambered a round and the pulled trigger while point it up over his shoulder, the bullet struck the guy standing next to him in the head, not killing him, but he was unable to return to service…
The Air force then went into “over-reaction” mode and ordered all SPs to carry their 45s empty. The top bullet in the magazine was painted RED so they could tell if it had ever been chambered and supervisors were ordered to randomly inspect the SPs to ensure the weapons were empty and the top bullet was the RED one…
Actually all Air Force weapons had their top bullet painted RED, even the Security Forces who carried M-16s and if you chambered a round, the action would chip the paint and if you chambered a round, you had better have a REALLY good excuse… Cow coming out of the darkness were not good enough… L o L . . .
Our Security Police were not issued Night Sticks as I remember… I actually remember the SPs getting most of their training in traffic control. Not many intersections on base had stoplights and most were 4-way stops and at the start and end of the duty day, the SPs went out and stood on little boxes (not real podiums…) and directed traffic…
I have never seen an animal larger than a deer on any base where I have been assigned. But just this week, I read that a couple of bears had raided a Crispy Crème Delivery truck making a delivery on an Alaskan Military Base… L o L . . .
Heh, heh, I was in SEA in 71, we would go out to the villages to treat the locals, “winning the hearts and minds”. I carried an M16 the first couple of times, then switched to a 38, the M16 just got in the way. Never had any training on it, knew nothing about revolvers!
Thirty years later a co-worker that had been Army, she and I were talking about weapons and weapon training, I told her, AF didn’t bother with small arms, we had big arms, big nuclear arms.
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Now that we are talking weapons training . . . We had quite a turnover in our reserve. Unit so there were probably a hundred of us just going to meetings waiting for orders to basic. But one weekend it was time to go to the range and everyone had to qualify. The unit still had the old m1s and most of us new guys knew nothing about them. So the elders had to show us how to load etc. but then a year later we got m16s. The new guys knew all about them and the old guys had to be shown. Good range management though so no danger. A guys farm and woods that he had built a range and let us use it. He said anyone could use it if they had an nra card. He died and don’t know if it is still there or not but there are very few places for target practice anymore.
He had a car repair shop right on the private drive so he could monitor anyone driving through. Just to add some car trivia.
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I’ve never used either, but I’ve always found it pretty amazing how easily military rifles can be disassembled for cleaning, then upon reassembly they still shoot straight. Hard to imagine how such a thing is possible.
Actually not a whole lot of parts. Springs firing pin etc. most of it stays intack. You could do it with your eyes closed. Just keep the solvent out of your eyes.
Bing,
You wrote that your unit was originally issued the M-1 and later your unit received the M-16. The M-16 has two Takedown Pins, one in the upper receiver and one in the lower receiver. If you removed the rear Takedown Pin, the M-16 open up somewhat like a shotgun “break open”.
Picture “A” is the normal “ready” for action configuration…
Picture “B” is the initial open position to remove the Bolt Assembly… (like a shotgun…)
Picture “C” is the “Long Gun” version of the M-16, when the weapon is “mis-assembled” either for fun or through ignorance…
Did your unit have many of this configuration after the very first disassembly and cleaning of the M-16?
When we finished the weapon cleaning class, after a course of firing, if some of the “students” thought it was funny or paid so little attention in class, they made a Long Gun, they got assigned to an additional duty of ammo count.
Each student shot 100 rounds; 10 for sighting in, 70 for score, and two magazines of 10 rounds each to shoot on full automatic. The first magazine was full auto, but try for 2 or 3 round burst and the last magazine was a "squeeze and hold…’
So, a case of 5.56 ammo holds 1,000 rounds, 50 boxes of 20-rounds each. If we had some jokers who built long guns, some of the instructors would empty out any unused boxes of ammo into a can and the ammo count duty consisted of counting and refilling the boxes and counting the empty brass.
A typical class in the early '70s (Viet Nam deployments era…), had 25 students in it and that meant the class shot 100 rounds times the 25 students which equals 2,500 rounds (empty brass…) and whatever we instructors shot demonstration single and rapid single fire, and automatic firing… And that part consisted of counting the empty brass to ensure there was no lost or missing ammunition.
More than one combat instructor had “ghost” students and their 100 rounds somehow found its way off base.
Finally, anyone who had never fired a full automatic burst before usually could not stop grinning afterwards…
Ah ha, you are in a dream world. No way we’d get 100 rounds for anything. Three loaded fir sighting in. Three more if that didn’t work and then don’t remember how many fir qualifying. Maybe five. I think the young guys pretty much teamed up with the old guys to make sure they didn’t kill themselves. So none of assembly picture c. Didn’t know you could do that. Money was always tight. No complete sets of tools etc. always had a 1st lt for a company commander until the end when he was promoted to captain. He was the sheriff too. First sarge was post master, warrant was bodyman, etc. so citizen soldiers. Boy that was a long time ago. I didn’t know it at the time but my wife’s cousin was one of his many units as a major, then general. I would have behaved better.
Our guys were all pretty good. All occupations from lawyers to farmers to teachers to machinists etc. most sportsmen so not unfamiliar with handling weapons. Serious when they needed to be.
When I was assigned to an Aerial Port Squadron in South Korea in '87, we got a new group of Guard personnel, who were Air Cargo Specialists come in every two weeks for their annual two weeks of training. I was the assigned as the Guard Coordination Officer for the Unit. That meant I met them at the airplane, brief them on the rules, the local customs, and how to have a good time without getting to stupid (they kept saying to each other, “What happens in Korea, stays in Korea…” I had to make sure they knew that the burning, the swelling and the irritation may not show up for several weeks afterwards… L o L . . . But back on topic, you wrote, “No way we’d get 100 rounds for anything” When they hit the club, they finished off 100 rounds real quick… Double L o L . . .
Bur really, what a world of difference then between the Guard, the Reserves, and the Active Duty. Now the Guard is almost on an equal footing with the Active Forces. As for “citizen soldiers,” my basic training flight (boot camp unit), was made up of various guys from New England (including New York), and the mid-west (Minneapolis and St Paul area – Your area???). Of the 50 guys, almost 10 we were draft dodgers, they were college degree professionals who were drafted and rather than enter the Army (this was 1971…). Although most if not all would have received a commission, they enlisted in the Air Force rather than risk the Army and being sent to Viet Nam. Three of them had Master Degrees and one was a CPA, one was a banker, and the other in insurance or something similar… As it turned out, about five were given a class date in an upcoming Officer Training School (OTS) Class.
One of the guys from Vermont was a CPA and he did not get an OTS class date and he was selected for the fabrication (parachute repair) and it was basically being a seamstress. After Basic, we both went to Chanute AFB for tech school, and later we both were assigned to Luke AFB in Arizona… About a year or so later, he was offered a slot at OTS, but he turned it down. It would mean he would have to extend for his enlistment to 4-years after OTS. He explained that it has to do with the Soldier and Sailor Relief Act, it guarantees that a person who enters the military will regain their job after service, but that only applies to the initial service. If they reenlist, that guarantee goes away. He had a contract from his previous employer that explained all his rights and privileges. Not only did they guarantee him his job, it was with no loss of seniority, all normal pay increases with apply, and they still offered him and his wife the medical coverage… He was not about to give that all up to become a lieutenant in a transportation squadron or something and probably get sent off to Viet Nam. His career field had very few slots in Viet Nam and as it turned out, he spent his entire tour at Luke and they went back home to Vermont…
Hey did you see how I brought that back to cars when I wrote, he did not want to become a “Transportation Officer…”