Bill Babcock wrote:
> > ...A guy came by to look over my
> > shoulder while I was feverishly working on some things unrelated to the
> > chain (unfortunately) and started pointing out all the important facets of
> > the Radical to me and his wife. Out of roughly twenty things he said he
> > didn't get a single one right--or even close. Now that's talent....
> > Normally I enjoy the folks who come by the paddock, but lately I've been
> > getting a lot of nuts. Is there something going on with the moon, or is it
> > my cologne?
Michael Porter replied:
> Nah, not the cologne. Probably not the phase of the moon, either. It's mostly
>the wide distribution of information which
> people largely don't understand.
I believe the popular term for this particular affliction is "Cliff Claven
Syndrome"; such as "It's a little-known fact, Norm, that 75% of nuclear waste
is eaten by albino squirrels."
"Carla's" observation also fits well here: "...they fool you by walking
upright." ;-)
> In 2001, while I was trying to do an inspection of a TR7 at the VTR for the
>supposed
> introduction of the daily driver award named for John Macartney's father,
>someone walked up and announced to his fellow
> show-goer, "that engine was originally a GM design." I abjured, and suggested
>that perhaps he had confused it with the
> B-O-P aluminum v-8 that Rover and Triumph licensed from GM. "NO! That's a GM
>design." Umm, I said, perhaps if you look
> at the cam cover and compare that to the Stag v-8, which was a
>British-Leyland design, and, the engine was licensed by
> British-Leyland to Saab....
> I don't think it's altogether bad manners to tell an insistently arrogant and
>stupid asshole he doesn't have a clue.
Well, it's kind of a Kevin Bacon thing. Harry Webster, Lewis Dawtrey and others
at Triumph were working on new engines back in the 1960s, and Harry Ricardo
worked with Triumph a lot, and Saab had also hired Ricardo for engine
development, and eventually Triumph came up with that slant-four that they
built for Saab's 99 (and later used themselves in the TR7, etc.)...
...and, of course, Saab is now owned by GM, so THERE YOU HAVE IT! PROOF
POSITIVE!:-)
> The other option is to simply hand the interloper the wrench, and say, "okay,
>smartass, your turn. Go to it."
But how long can you allow their hands on your car before you find YOUR hands
around their neck?
> I think this phenomenon is a reflection of how many people in this country
>have gotten away with lying on their resumes.
> It's gone to their heads. *smile*
No...must...fight...urge...to...suggest...well-known names! :-)
--Andy Mace
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