Something That Still Confuses Me

[LonesomeLamp]

Many many moons ago—I think it would have been around 1998–I had some accidents at school. I’m fairly sure I’ve wrote about them here once or twice. I was in kindergarten at the time. Twice, I filled my pants while sitting at my desk. The first time, it happened without warning. Second time, I had maybe five seconds heads up before it happened. But something that’s got me confused happened when I didn’t have an accident.

One particular day, I asked to go to the bathroom and was given permission. I went in, dropped a log, all was fine. I went to the sinks and washed my hands. As I was leaving the bathroom, two janitors came in and started inspecting me. One checked my shoulder and said something along the lines of “he’s got some on his shirt too” and wiped my shoulder off. Just as quickly as it started, they left and I was just standing there like what the fuck just happened. I went on to class and never heard anything else about it since.

That was around 23 years ago and I still wonder what it all was about. Was it some type of preemptive thing where they were alerted I was going in and might need to be taken to the youth service center for new pants? Was someone else in there before me and they think I was them when they came in? These are the only two theories I’ve came up with and neither seem to be it. I’ve only crapped myself twice in elementary school, so it seems like way overkill for the first option to be it. And I was in there (alone!) for a good amount of time; too much time for them to think I was the previous occupant.

And I have more questions. Things like what did they think was on my shirt? What was really on my shirt? What was they trying to find?

[feralfreak]

if it was on your shoulder, unless you shit out your ears(in which case one would have shit for brains, and i highly doubt that), it had to be something else, i think the real question is, is this worth the energy you would give it? its in the past, should you be carrying this along with you or leaving it in the dirty diaper bin?

[AbabeBill]

Maybe it was a joke between the two janitors. Maybe they thought it was fun to mess with your head, making you think there was something on your shoulder and shirt? 

[Little Cub Pants]

It doesn't matter anymore.

[LonesomeLamp]

Sure it doesn’t matter anymore, but every now and then, the memory pops into my head and I’m like “what in the hell...was that about?” I considered maybe the teacher saw something on me and called the office to let them know, then the office sent the janitors. But then why wouldn’t the teacher, you know, take care of it herself before I left or after I got back? She didn’t seem to be too observant of me at the time. The janitors just screwing around makes the most sense to me, but in a building with 10 to 15 classrooms, a cafeteria, library...you’d think they had better things to be doing.

Like we said, it doesn’t matter anymore. But when the memory comes up, I can’t help but to wonder.

[Little Cub Pants]

1 hour ago, LonesomeLamp said:

Sure it doesn’t matter anymore, but every now and then, the memory pops into my head and I’m like “what in the hell...was that about?” I considered maybe the teacher saw something on me and called the office to let them know, then the office sent the janitors. But then why wouldn’t the teacher, you know, take care of it herself before I left or after I got back? She didn’t seem to be too observant of me at the time. The janitors just screwing around makes the most sense to me, but in a building with 10 to 15 classrooms, a cafeteria, library...you’d think they had better things to be doing.

Like we said, it doesn’t matter anymore. But when the memory comes up, I can’t help but to wonder.

Good point! What age were the two other boys? Maybe they really cared about you.???? This happened in kindergarten right?

[LonesomeLamp]

I have no idea how old the janitors were. One was a female that I hardly ever saw around. If I were to guess, I’d put the guy at mid to upper 20’s and her somewhere in her 30’s. And yes, I was in kindergarten.

[rusty pins]

So you are saying a female janitor was in the boys room while you were in there?  Raises red flags to me about the school personnel!

[Little BabyDoll Christine]

It might have been aspbestos dust from the wall. We've been DefCon 4 about that for about 3-2/3 decades

[LonesomeLamp]

55 minutes ago, rusty pins said:

So you are saying a female janitor was in the boys room while you were in there?  Raises red flags to me about the school personnel!

I thought that too for a small amount of time, but they seemed professional enough about it. They came in at the same time and left at the same time and didn’t spend more than maybe half a minute in there.

15 minutes ago, Little Christine said:

It might have been aspbestos dust from the wall. We've been DefCon 4 about that for about 3-2/3 decades

Possibly, but the school is mostly bricks and cinder blocks. Maybe from the ceiling, but then the question remains about how they would have know about it to begin with.

Not gonna lie, this is one of my favorite memories because of all the mystery surrounding it.

[Little Cub Pants]

1 hour ago, LonesomeLamp said:

I have no idea how old the janitors were. One was a female that I hardly ever saw around. If I were to guess, I’d put the guy at mid to upper 20’s and her somewhere in her 30’s. And yes, I was in kindergarten.

I think the most simple explanation is usually the right one, so I think they were just looking out for you. Although I could be wrong, but who knows?? Did you ever wear diapers in kindergarten too? And how did your mom feel about you having accidents at school?

[LonesomeLamp]

Never wore diapers to school and I’m not sure how she felt about my accidents. She’s not said anything to me about them as far as I can remember. As for other students, only a couple said anything for my second accident, but they sat beside me. They asked if I had pooped my pants and I was like I don’t think I did. I remember suddenly needing to go and then suddenly not needing to go. I didn’t feel anything come out or spread around, so that’s why I gave the answer I did: “I don’t smell anything.”

[Whatsthatsmell]

Asbestos.  

[BabyJune]

What confuses me? Why people think that engineers are so smart when they design things in such a stupid way so that the average person can't fix them. (Mostly cars). With all that education, how can they do such idiotic designs? Don't they teach being practical and sensible? I think in their first year of college they take a course in "Inaccessibility 101." (I think I know the answer: so you have to overpay a professional to fix things when they break).

[vvp39]

The guys on the construction job used to say that the scale of subnormal mentality was idiot, moron, engineer, architect, imbecile.

[LonesomeLamp]

3 hours ago, BabyJune said:

(I think I know the answer: so you have to overpay a professional to fix things when they break).

Exactly. It why cellphones no longer have user changeable batteries or why, as you said, things that are supposed to be easily accessible are hidden behind or under other parts that are already hard to access themselves. It should be illegal, IMO.

[rusty pins]

19 hours ago, BabyJune said:

What confuses me? Why people think that engineers are so smart when they design things in such a stupid way so that the average person can't fix them. (Mostly cars). With all that education, how can they do such idiotic designs? Don't they teach being practical and sensible? I think in their first year of college they take a course in "Inaccessibility 101." (I think I know the answer: so you have to overpay a professional to fix things when they break).

Yes, that is one reason.  They don't make money if you can fix it yourself.  That's why they use bolts and screws with special heads and threads no one has ever heard of.  You either have to take it to a dealer who has those special tools or buy their special tool at an exorbitant price if you can.  Likewise, the special bolt that costs them ten cents to make that they charge you $36 for.  Yes, the engineers are smart because they design items so you can't fix them yourself insuring the company they work for gets money from doing the repairs.  Changing brakes on my GM or Chrysler cars is easy with just the basic tools.  On my friends Ford, he has to rent special tools to change the brake pads on his car.

Anyone ever have an old refrigerator or freezer from the 1950's or 1960's?  We had one from 1965 that lasted 40 years.  I have friends with refrigerators from the 1950's that are still going.  You buy one today and it's designed so the compressor will fail within 15 years.  A company can't make money on replacement appliances if they are designed to last 40 or 50 years.  Smart on their part, we are the ones who get shafted!

[WetDad]

I have a fridge freezer made by Subzero. It was expensive 25+ years ago, but last summer we had the compressor replaced. $500 IIRC. I hope it lasts another 25.

[LonesomeLamp]

Older fridges and air conditioning units are very expensive to repair these days. Some would even say it’s getting near impossible. The refrigerants they used are now illegal to make and even import since about...I’m wanting to say April 12, 1994? And the newer refrigerants are nowhere near compatible. I’ve heard that some types, you can pull all the refrigerant out and keep pulling for several extra hours. Then you put one type of the newer stuff in and about a month later, all of that refrigerant turns into a gelatinous form. You can clean and clean and clean and clean and clean and clean that system as much as you can, but it will continue turning into gel. My hvac instructor keeps two separate sets of test gauges specifically because of that. One set for one type and one set for all of the others.

They do make a refrigerant that’s supposedly compatible with the older ones and you’re even supposed to be able to mix the two together (which is usually an extremely bad idea), but it’s just as expensive as the older types. That’s likely why the repair was so expensive. We’re allowed to use the older refrigerants....we just can’t manufacture or import it, and most of what we did have got dumped straight into the atmosphere most of the time while it was being manufactured (that’s why it became illegal to produce; it’s extremely harmful to the ozone layer and everyone would use it as a general cleaning solution for literally everything grease and oil).

On top of all that making equipment repairs expensive, there have been a few shifts in popular refrigerant types. Even today, they’re in the process of making a shift to a new refrigerant. It’s going from r-134a to a form of butane and a form of propane, which is why new equipment has that “explosive” warning label on them.

[musicaddict]

5 hours ago, rusty pins said:

Changing brakes on my GM or Chrysler cars is easy with just the basic tools.  On my friends Ford, he has to rent special tools to change the brake pads on his car.

Oof, I feel his pain. On my Ford, they placed the fucking battery in such a way you HAVE to take it to the dealer for a swap

[feralfreak]

16 hours ago, BabyJune said:

What confuses me? Why people think that engineers are so smart when they design things in such a stupid way so that the average person can't fix them. (Mostly cars). With all that education, how can they do such idiotic designs? Don't they teach being practical and sensible? I think in their first year of college they take a course in "Inaccessibility 101." (I think I know the answer: so you have to overpay a professional to fix things when they break).

they dont want YOU fixing things, they want to charge you to fix it, fortunately others make parts available and how-to's are available online

[rusty pins]

Aftermarket is the way to go most times if you can.  EBAY is a great place to start.  For example, my 2002 Grand Cherokee with remote key fob.  The dealer said they don't make the key fobs anymore but there is a place in Chicago that has them for $150 each.  I actually got two key fobs and two keys with the chip inside from a key and fob company I found on the internet for $40.  Only difference is they didn't have JEEP embossed into them.  I had the dealer program them all and they work perfectly!

I also was missing a big trim piece for the lower front of the Jeep.  The dealer had them priced at $329.00.  I ordered aftermarket from an EBAY parts dealer, brand new for $67 including shipping.  It's a perfect match and fit.  That goes to show you how much mark up there is on parts from a dealership.

[feralfreak]

On 4/19/2021 at 6:19 AM, rusty pins said:

Aftermarket is the way to go most times if you can.  EBAY is a great place to start.  For example, my 2002 Grand Cherokee with remote key fob.  The dealer said they don't make the key fobs anymore but there is a place in Chicago that has them for $150 each.  I actually got two key fobs and two keys with the chip inside from a key and fob company I found on the internet for $40.  Only difference is they didn't have JEEP embossed into them.  I had the dealer program them all and they work perfectly!

I also was missing a big trim piece for the lower front of the Jeep.  The dealer had them priced at $329.00.  I ordered aftermarket from an EBAY parts dealer, brand new for $67 including shipping.  It's a perfect match and fit.  That goes to show you how much mark up there is on parts from a dealership.

aftermarket aint always a good option, when my smart phone battery was dying(literally couldnt use it off the cord, and if i tried to take a pic without the cord plugged in, it would die), i ordered an aftermarket battery for it, the fucking thing lasted only 5 damn months!