RE: [MV] Reality

OConnor, Dennis (DOconnor@SIKORSKY.COM)
Wed, 5 May 1999 18:15:40 -0400

>He buys it and gets some "fatherly advice"
Sorry Julian, you lost me at this point. Good advice will always
start with the question "So what do you know already?" in this situation and
move forward from there. Guys that have asked the list for advice on getting
into these things have got it in the right order....they ask for the advice
BEFORE buying the truck. All of the advice has included taking an
experienced person with them if possible and lots of tips and tricks anyway
to be sure they're headed in the right direction. The "buddy at
work/school/church/etc", or even a mechanic that would like to make some $
just for looking at a truck, that says "Oh yeah, I know all about them
things" may really know less than nothing and certainly cannot compete with
the combined knowledge and experience of this venue. I've noticed that every
bunch of advice given about DRMO sales includes "Have it trucked home so you
can check it out properly".

>He may have not known of some cannabalization that took place
Who would, unless some fatherly advisor told him to look there....

>M35's are NOT to be reckoned with like a Dodge Caravan for fatherly
>advice. There are procedures/experience that MUST be known to a driver >to
operate these big machines and NOT fatherly advice.
Good advice from a learned source is invaluable for anything, size of
equipment has nothing to do with it because not everything is in the manual.
Communicating experience is only done in the form of "fatherly (or friendly)
advice. A Dodge Caravan, or any vehicle for that matter, is dangerous/deadly
if the operator is not ready. The 20 year old in your example, and the rest
of the world, would be safer with him in a duece he couldn't figure out how
to get moving, or keep moving, than a regular vehicle he takes for granted
and drives drunk in because he's overconfident of his ability. The duece
demands respect and responsibility at all times from it's operator. I've
never seen a duece operated irresponsibly by any age driver in public,
unlike a lot of minivans I could show you on any highway.

>Does anyone see my analogy here? The DUCK that sank in Arkanas...
Poor analogy. The DUKW was part of a commercial fleet and the operations,
operator training, and maintenance of the vehicle have nothing to do with
buying a duece from a DRMO sale and are different from private vehicles.

Also, please stop using age as a determining factor in any of this.
Achieving a certain number of years survival on this planet endows one with
absolutely nothing. The "lessons of a lifetime" are wasted if one doesn't
pay attention in class. Everyone can think of some young person that is
pretty sharp and some older person that's not very sharp at all (Alzheimer's
victims and such exempted of course). Only experience (as pointed out to you
so well before) is the teacher and the truly wise person will seek the
experience of others to avoid the hard lessons.

I'll put away the soapbox now,
Dennis O'Connor

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