[BigMackCam]

Mike, there is your problem; you see the bits as spare parts.

Well, they obviously weren't required - the vacuum cleaner and clock are both working fine. And I'm pretty sure they always made a grinding noise...

[robtcorl]

And Murphy was and is always right.

One of his laws states:
If you're working on a vehicle and drop a tool, it will bounce, roll, or slide to the geographical center underneath said vehicle.

[ccc_]

Mike, there is your problem; you see the bits as spare parts.

that actually happened to me...

got a repeat case of trouble
mechanism seized and its fuse blown
pulled the cover and tried turn the primary shaft
a pretty little acorn nut fell to the bottom of the case

it wasn't spare...it was extra

[MarkJerling]

Reminds me of the F150 I had that had a rattle in the drivers door. I removed the inside door panel and there was a perfectly good panelbeaters hammer inside the door.

[tim60]

Well, they obviously weren't required - the vacuum cleaner and clock are both working fine. And I'm pretty sure they always made a grinding noise...

So when you can assemble it with the parts that were not needed you found the "Efficiency Bonus".

[gaweidert]

As one who can disassemble and reassemble a vacuum cleaner or clock and wind up with a bag of spare parts, I don't feel qualified to join in with this discussion...

Have you people never heard of Murphy's Law of Intimate Reproduction? It goes something like this:

If you take something apart an reassemble it enough times, eventually you will have two of them.

[bertwert]

As one who can disassemble and reassemble a vacuum cleaner or clock and wind up with a bag of spare parts, I don't feel qualified to join in with this discussion...

You just reassembled it more efficiently than the manufacturer...

[tim60]

Hence, the efficiency dividend.

[robtcorl]

Reminds me of the F150 I had that had a rattle in the drivers door. I removed the inside door panel and there was a perfectly good panelbeaters hammer inside the door.

Never knew if this was a true story or just a story.
It supposedly happened several years ago.
A guy took his new Cadillac back to the dealer for a rattle.
After a test drive to listen for the noise, and concluding it came from the driver's door, they removed the door panel.
Inside was a string tied to a few steel nuts with a note attached that said, Well you found the rattle you rich son-of a b!tch, put there by someone at the factory.

[RoxnDox]

Murphy was an optimist...

As a programmer, I always liked Osborn's Law: "Variables won't, Constants aren't."

[ccc_]

Reminds me of the F150 I had that had a rattle in the drivers door. I removed the inside door panel and there was a perfectly good panelbeaters hammer inside the door.

I got a pair of vise grips that way

we'd had a major flood and it was walk in a couple of three miles or jump a missing bridge
it was a small void and their truck so off I went
several hours later I had to get out so I jumped it again

one of the shocks sheared off

anyway after the inevitable questions and the appropriate lies my rig was made as good as new...kinda

a rear tire ended up with the sidewall ripped apart

as i'm changing the tire I found the mechanic had clamped parts together with the grips and welded the whole mess together

a few well placed thumps with a mallet and I had a new-to-me wrench and a good story

[Racer X 69]

Have you people never heard of Murphy's Law of Intimate Reproduction? It goes something like this:

If you take something apart an reassemble it enough times, eventually you will have two of them.

I wish that were true with my racecar. I've had it apart so many times I should have 7 or 8 of them by now.

Many times I didn't have enough parts to reassemble it and had to dig through my stash of spare parts.

[Racer X 69]

Never knew if this was a true story or just a story.
It supposedly happened several years ago.
A guy took his new Cadillac back to the dealer for a rattle.
After a test drive to listen for the noise, and concluding it came from the driver's door, they removed the door panel.
Inside was a string tied to a few steel nuts with a note attached that said, Well you found the rattle you rich son-of a b!tch, put there by someone at the factory.

There are lots of stories like that, and many are true.

I worked at a Ford dealer for a while in the early 1970's. A pickup came in for warranty work. Had a problem with oil pressure. Turned out there was a hamburger patty in the oil pan, that would get sucked up against the oil pickup screen while the engine was running, blocking the oil flow just enough to restrict it and cause a drop in pressure. Since it only had a few hundred miles on it there was only one way it could have gotten in there. The customer got a new engine, hold the pickles and relish, thank you.

Another was a Lincoln Town Car, that had a clinking noise coming from the rear. A Coke bottle was found in the gas tank. Now the filler neck isn't large enough for the bottle to have been inserted after the car was assembled, so the only logical source was the assembly line. The tank had to be removed and cut open to find the bottle. Of course a new tank was installed, sans bottle.

Factory workers are a notoriously unhappy bunch. Many spend their days concocting ways to 'get back' at the company for things perceived to be done to them by management.

[savoche]

Factory workers are a notoriously unhappy bunch. Many spend their days concocting ways to 'get back' at the company for things perceived to be done to them by management.

Says the man working at a plane factory...

[Racer X 69]

Says the man working at a plane factory...

Although the attitude generally is the same as in any factory environment, there is a distinct difference.

Any worker intentionally subverting the manufacturing process of an airplane is guilty of sabotage. A very serious act, taken very seriously by everyone, including the company and the FAA, which has oversight to the manufacturing process. Anyone caught deliberately engaged in sabotage is immediately discharged and my be arrested, charged and prosecuted.