Thread: is common sence dead?

Originally Posted by weisyboy

i always carry the following things.

spare tyre
jack
jack handle!!!!
wheel brace
tyre plug kit
cans of air
50m of fencing wire
axe
tape
chain/strap
knead it.
toolbox with tools in it.

there is almost nothing that cant be fixed with that kit.

So how would you deal with a failed engine management unit with your extensive tool kit? The average motor vehicle being driven by Joe Average citizen doesn't have alot of parts on it that are serviceable by Joe Average motorist.

For the record I have a University Degree but I also have a fairly good knowledge of the workings of motor vehicles having spent 4 years working in a garage midway through my degree. I spend half my year away working so the remaining half of the year I really have better things to do with my time than dick around with my car. If the thing plays up and its more complicated than a flat tyre it goes into the shop and I pay someone else to fix it...its a choice I make for quite valid reasons and it doesn't mean I lack common sense.

Although I don't do a lot of country driving I've usually carried a few metres of wire with me in all the cars I've owned or leased (even the ones I've driven overseas for extensive periods) for the last 40 years. The wire is just one of those small rolls found in hardware stores and I usually store it in the spare wheel well. The one time I've needed a piece of wire was when I was towing a small boat trailer and one of the welds holding a mudguard on broke and the guard started flapping around. Ah - Ha! I thought - now I get to use my wire! But with my luck the wire was in the wheel well of the Subaru station wagon which was packed to the gunnels with stuff - I was just about to start unloading everything when SWMBO noticed a half roll of rusty fencing wire laying a few metres away. Now I did have enough common sense to keep the pliers in a tool box behind the driver seat so within minutes we were on our way.

I also carry a HD battery pack with built in jumper cables in my van. I have helped so many people with that thing, as well as using it on my own vehicle (diesel) as well. I also carry an axe in the van but haven't had to used it yet and usually there's a chainsaw or two in there as well but haven't had to use those either. I'm thinking one day I will come across an ambo blocked in by a fallen tree that I can rescue.

An Obituary printed in the London Times - Interesting and sadly rather true


Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:
- Knowing when to come in out of the rain;
- Why the early bird gets the worm;
- Life isn't always fair;
- and Maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.

It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims.

Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents, Truth and Trust, by his wife, Discretion, by his daughter, Responsibility, and by his son, Reason.

He is survived by his 4 loopy stepbrothers;
I Know My Rights
I Want It Now
Someone Else Is To Blame
I'm A Victim

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing.

So what are we now? A country that everyone is an auto mechanic?

I think theyre called Automotive Technicians these days....I guess someone has to plug in the laptop.

Automotive Technicians don't have much common sense.

Common sense is such a mis-used term these days. I like to think of my Grandmother, for example, as being a person possessed of great common sense and yet I doubt she was ever able to fix a car with a roll of fencing wire. On the other hand, some people who apparently consider themselves to have common sense don't see any issue with removing guards from machinery or wearing thongs when they should be wearing boots, so I really don't know what to make of this.

I think what you're really complaining about is that a lot of city people are finding their way into the bush and getting into trouble because they're unprepared for it. But I've seen enough wide-eyed country boys wandering around mouth agape in dodgey parts of Sydney to realise that it cuts both ways.

Maybe instead of feeling all superior when you find someone in a sticky situation of their own making, you should be thankful that you were able to help them out and hope that some day the favour is returned, because anyone can end up on the wrong side of things and smugness doesn't really help anyone.

Originally Posted by silentc

on the other hand, some people who apparently consider themselves to have common sense don't see any issue with removing guards from machinery or wearing thongs when they should be wearing boots, so i really don't know what to make of this.

Hmmm....

Originally Posted by Wongo

Hmmm....

Hmmmmmmmm..... I see...... Yesss....

Originally Posted by BobL

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

In a nutshell: 79 year old woman gets 3rd degree burns over 6% of her body, required skin grafts and 8 days in hospital and two years of follow up treatments. Claimed cost of hospital treatment ($20k) from McDonalds. (they offered $800. During litigation, they also refused to settle for $90k and $225k, despite having settled similar cases for $500k.) Documents show more than 700 claims by people burned by Maccas coffee in a ten year period. McDonalds claims to be ignorant of the fact that people drink its coffee in their cars (despite their own research showing that the majority of their take-away coffee was drunk there). Awarded $160k after appeals. Trial judge also awards $2.7 million in punitive damages (dropped to $480k on appeal) as McDonalds showed continued 'reckless, callous and willful' behaviour in serving coffee at temperatures they knew would cause immediate harm. $2.7 million was about 2 days worth of coffee sales for McDonalds.

I reckon I have a modicum of common sense, but when the "ignition module" failed in my car about 50km from anywhere, about the only thing I could have used the #8 wire for was as a tow-rope.(I've done just that in the past!)
IMO, common sense accrues with life led, and can also be defined as learning from experience.Townies can't become bushies just by changing addresses any more than bushies can fit in to city life.

That's true. Last time I went to Sydney I discovered they had changed the bus ticket system and I had to work out how to buy the right ticket before I got on the bus. That wasn't as easy as you might think but even children can do it when they know how.

I still laugh remembering a few years back at a "Uni Degree"(metallurgist), he wanted a sample of dross off one of our pans of molten lead(500°c) so along he comes with a plastic scoop hmmm that dont work so he disappears and returns several days later with a shiny new metal scoop yep that works but... into a plastic bag!

Same bloke needed to run a air driven pump for a new process he was developing, god knows how but he managed to connect up to a gas line(would've taken some tricky adapting fittings)... all he needed was a spark plug and away she would've went!
To friggin proudly smart to ask a dumb #### operator like me what to do.
Bright sparks often dont have common sense... sorry sence

Originally Posted by silentC

Common sense is such a mis-used term these days. I like to think of my Grandmother, for example, as being a person possessed of great common sense and yet I doubt she was ever able to fix a car with a roll of fencing wire. On the other hand, some people who apparently consider themselves to have common sense don't see any issue with removing guards from machinery or wearing thongs when they should be wearing boots, so I really don't know what to make of this.

so long as you have the common sence not to put your hands into the blade, or chop into your foot than the guards are not needed.

Originally Posted by Master Splinter

In a nutshell: 79 year old woman gets 3rd degree burns over 6% of her body, required skin grafts and 8 days in hospital and two years of follow up treatments. Claimed cost of hospital treatment ($20k) from McDonalds. (they offered $800. During litigation, they also refused to settle for $90k and $225k, despite having settled similar cases for $500k.) Documents show more than 700 claims by people burned by Maccas coffee in a ten year period. McDonalds claims to be ignorant of the fact that people drink its coffee in their cars (despite their own research showing that the majority of their take-away coffee was drunk there). Awarded $160k after appeals. Trial judge also awards $2.7 million in punitive damages (dropped to $480k on appeal) as McDonalds showed continued 'reckless, callous and willful' behaviour in serving coffee at temperatures they knew would cause immediate harm. $2.7 million was about 2 days worth of coffee sales for McDonalds.

mcdonalds coffee is bloody hot, you cant drink it for an hour.

Originally Posted by Scorp

I reckon I have a modicum of common sense, but when the "ignition module" failed in my car about 50km from anywhere, about the only thing I could have used the #8 wire for was as a tow-rope.(I've done just that in the past!)
IMO, common sense accrues with life led, and can also be defined as learning from experience.Townies can't become bushies just by changing addresses any more than bushies can fit in to city life.

but you have enough common sense to know that wire can be used as a tow rope.