BigB23....Where are you?

**eriedearie** · July-23-09, 08:28 AM

We miss you around these parts! Where are you buddy? Have not seen any posts for quite some time.

**reddog289** · July-24-09, 12:10 AM

I miss him too, I belive he might have some issues that alot of people face now days so therefore his existance is more important to being on the net.

**Bobl** · July-26-09, 10:19 PM

I, too, have wondered about the absence of BigB23 [[or is it Bigb23?)
You are missed, big man......and, hey, I found a job!

Perhaps some of the Garwood posters might know where he is. He has posted there often.
A little help?

LodgeDodger · July-27-09, 03:38 AM

Originally Posted by Bobl

I, too, have wondered about the absence of BigB23 [[or is it Bigb23?)
You are missed, big man......and, hey, I found a job!

Perhaps some of the Garwood posters might know where he is. He has posted there often.
A little help?

That's great news, Bobl. Congratulations!

**Bobl** · July-28-09, 10:43 AM

Originally Posted by LodgeDodger

That's great news, Bobl. Congratulations!

Thanks. It beats not working, but pays 60% of former wages. Same with my work partner. Times have changed, and not for the better.
Bigb23, be sure to post when you can....

**Bigb23** · July-29-09, 12:21 PM

Hey people -

I'm allright I guess. I just got behind on my phone bill because unemployment does'nt cover what needs to be paid.

I occasionally get on the library computer to check things out on here. I find out you can't certify for MARVIN on a cellphone anymore, and payphones are few and far between.
I was hoping to find some info on here on what to do. Boy, the state makes it near impossible to collect your unemployment in times of real needs !!!!!!

F this economy !

**gazhekwe** · July-29-09, 12:27 PM

YAY! Good to hear from you! Sorry things are going poorly.

**Bigb23** · July-29-09, 12:32 PM

Oh - by the way, congrats Bobl !

**Bobl** · July-29-09, 09:25 PM

Originally Posted by Bigb23

Oh - by the way, congrats Bobl !

Thanks.
You can access Marvin online. Just go to their website [[from the library computer), and follow directions. Before my benefits expired in May, I used the online site often. Never had a problem, and did not have to wait to get through, ever!
Sure beat wrestling with the busy signal on the phone.

The job ain't great, but it is paying the bills. Afternoon shift, so I can still schedule interviews if something better comes up.

**reddog289** · July-30-09, 12:11 AM

Good to hear from BigB. When my girlfriend could collect unemployment she had problems during and after calling Marvin.Last time I visited my soon to be social security collecting Uncle he was like Rainman and jepardy. "Well 30 min till I call MARVIN" 15 min till I, AND THE COUNTDOWN.
Being at least 25 years from this ?. Can you collect unemployment and social security at the same time?. Couldn"t answer that quetion for him.

**eriedearie** · July-30-09, 12:20 AM

Well BigB! Glad to see you're still among us! Welcome back

**Bigb23** · July-30-09, 10:01 AM

Originally Posted by Bobl

Thanks.
You can access Marvin online. Just go to their website [[from the library computer), and follow directions. Before my benefits expired in May, I used the online site often. Never had a problem, and did not have to wait to get through, ever!
Sure beat wrestling with the busy signal on the phone.

The job ain't great, but it is paying the bills. Afternoon shift, so I can still schedule interviews if something better comes up.

I just tried MARVIN online from the library computer, and my pin won't work. I have to call 866-500-0017 - but they don't accept cellphone calls now. The payphones all seem to redirect you to an ATT corporate center. What a mess Granholm !

We're teetering on almost 20% unemployment in Michigan, and they have more hoops for you to jump through.

**Bigb23** · July-30-09, 10:56 AM

I never had a thread titled about me, I feel honored, and glad I have some cyber friends out there during a hard time in my life. Thanks again !

**sumas** · July-30-09, 12:34 PM

So happy to hear you're still with us. What I worried about most was your health issues. You have always been so witty and intelligent and you were definitely missed. Don't stay away so long again. Very sincerely, Sumas

**Bigb23** · July-30-09, 12:59 PM

Hey I finally, [[and hopefully), cleared up the problem with MESC. They do a [[unknown to you), reset on your pin number that makes it invalid to access MARVIN by phone or online. It took three and a half days and thirty - forty tries to get a voice menu and reach a human to reset my pin. A landline is your best bet.

Are they just trying to get people to give up ?

Lansing better clean up it's act, for the long time, and long suffering citizens of this State !

**Django** · August-11-09, 09:59 AM

Big. You may have noticed some strange responses from me over the past few months. I had you confused with someone else from the Old Miami bar. In short I thought you were a regular at the Miami who I see quite a bit. I had someone else pegged as you. I realized my mistake last night when talking with him.

Anyway you asked me if I was back from Mexico somewhere on another thread so yes Ive been back for about three months but may head back for the winter.

**Bigb23** · August-14-09, 04:28 PM

Just a shout out to the North Hill Marthon repair facility in Rochester. After a flat in my drive way this morning, all I could afford was a take-off tire to replace it. After a few stops and a fifty dollar quote, I went there and was told to pick out a tire for free out back, and he would mount, balance, and install it all for $12.95. He even threw on a new valve, and installed the doughnut back underneath.
He had no idea what dire straights I'm going through right now. And the friendliest folks at a business I've run across for quite awhile.
That's what happens at non corporate mom and pop shops.
Oh, and the scissor jack handle snapped off on only the beginning of the second use ever ! GM, if you want to stay out of bankruptcy, use better materials. 55,000 miles, and several things have broke so far. I've always been loyal, but you are trying my patience !

**Gannon** · August-14-09, 06:32 PM

Are they just trying to get people to give up ?

Of course, they'd RATHER you not try at all!

As for the car parts...what you see is what you get, buddy, once they started hammering their suppliers for drastic cost reductions...started with that fella from Opel who stole the VW secrets...what was his name again?

Jose Ignacio Lopez de Arriortua

He cancelled every GM supplier contract back, oh, fifteen years ago...telling everyone he wanted a fifty percent price reduction in parts costing, and if they didn't know how to get there, he'd come visit their operations himself and show them how it was done.

It got done making cheaper jack handles...and main bearings...and tie-rod ends...and other stuff that used to never break on American cars.

He is the main reason GM vehicles suck even today, in my opinion, because it seems the suppliers never recovered from this fiasco...once you drop your prices they can never be recovered.

As long as the shoddy parts made it through the warranty period, ANY manufacturer seems to not give a damn, but the American car companies made it an artform.

I got my lessons from Ford, from both my Windstar and Contour SVT. It is no surprise to me that the Windstar made the top ten list of throw-aways during this cash-for-clunkers deal, the shock is that ANY lasted until now!

**Gannon** · August-14-09, 06:34 PM

other way around...he stole from GM/Opel for VW...got it backwards

**Bobl** · August-14-09, 10:12 PM

Big:

I understand "dire straights".
There are few jobs out there. My unemployment compensation ran out in May, finally found a job that barely pays the bills in July.
If your car is dependable, and you are healthy, I can suggest my employer.
Give a sign....

I hope things improve sooner than expected, and we can all find decent jobs with decent pay.

**Bobl** · August-14-09, 10:21 PM

Gannon
You nailed it:

"...It got done making cheaper jack handles...and main bearings...and tie-rod ends...and other stuff that used to never break on American cars..."

Lopez's legacy!
A close friend has experienced the result of poor quality tie rod ends, and has sworn off GM cars.

**Mikeg** · August-15-09, 07:39 AM

He cancelled every GM supplier contract back, oh, fifteen years ago...telling everyone he wanted a fifty percent price reduction in parts costing, and if they didn't know how to get there, he'd come visit their operations himself and show them how it was done. It got done making cheaper jack handles...and main bearings...and tie-rod ends...and other stuff that used to never break on American cars. He is the main reason GM vehicles suck even today, in my opinion,

That may be your opinion, but that doesn't mean it's the truth.

Yes, Lopez wreaked havoc on GM-supplier relationships, but he and his minions in purchasing had no control over the design and release of the direct materials used on GM vehicles. Their influence over direct materials extended only to suggesting changes internal to the supplier's operations that could result in cost savings, which would then be shared between the supplier and GM.

Direct material parts used on GM vehicles are designed, engineered and spec'd by a release engineer - never a buyer. If a part should fail and a lawsuit gets filed, it is the release engineer - not the buyer - who has to stand answerable in the courtroom. If a part begins to fail in large numbers, the warranty tracking system enables the release engineer to quickly react and determine if there is an engineering problem with their design and/or materials selection or if the problem is in the supplier's purchased materials and/or processing.

Customer satisfaction data as well as the steadily increasing average age of the fleet on US roads indicate that the vehicles being built over the past fifteen years are increasingly better, more reliable and longer lasting than ever before.

**Gannon** · August-15-09, 08:49 AM

Sounds to me their JACK HANDLE customer satisfaction is pretty down in our limited sample...and every GM mechanic I've spoken with chimes in with their version once the topic is broached.

If you don't think the build quality of certain LIFETIME parts suffered from the introduction of this bozo to the equation...then you are deluded.

Those quality figures are initial observation and within the first few months of ownership...there is not one chance in even a lukewarm hell that data would catch this phenomenon.

Nor the sign-off engineers, so they could stand in court and defend the Corporation's overall goodness and diligence. With an honest face, yanno, this is quite important to the Corporation.

So, yeah, nice description of a process that isn't quite germane to the issue...long-term. Something the Big Three seemed to stop thinking many, many years ago. Their lack of Long Term thinking brought us to the situation we find ourselves today.

Cheers

**Mikeg** · August-15-09, 09:35 AM

If you don't think the build quality of certain LIFETIME parts suffered from the introduction of this bozo to the equation...then you are deluded.

I was pretty polite in my response, so why do you want to make it so personal? You are the deluded one if you believe that Lopez was the cause of your anecdotal evidence.

I was there in engineering when Lopez came on the scene. I saw first-hand the results of his obsessive showmanship, unethical behavior and his newly aggressive buyers. They ruined GM's relationship with its suppliers, which is a problem that GM is still to this day struggling to repair. However, I can assure anyone who is willing to listen, that the release engineer could not be overruled by purchasing on issues involving the purchased part design and material selection.

**gazhekwe** · August-15-09, 09:50 AM

Mikeg, that is reassuring. Watching from the outside, it was a pretty scary time, where the bottom line seemed to overrule everything else. There is always dross to be cut out in any process, and such cutting can often improve process and produce more output to result in cost savings. During the Lopez period, it appeared that long term subtle process improvements were ignored in favor of quick slashes to the biggest expenses. They seemed to concentrate on the biggests costs and keep going back to those expenses time and again.

My experience with it came in the course of investigating complaints about employment changes, of course, so I was likely seeing a bias toward the costs of employment.