In a message dated 9/16/05 11:43:32 PM, guskersthecat@YAHOO.COM writes:

<< As usual, this time the elderly German fellow running the shop (been in
the business all his life ???) insisted that there was nothing wrong with it. >>

Typical.  It must have something to do with whatever they put in the water
over there.  I've become conditioned to cringe if I hear a thick German (or
Austrian) accent whenever I have to resolve a problem with a piece of equipment
made in der Mudderland.  If you think a mechanic is tough, try dealing with a
German engineer.  He may certainly be sharp, but no matter how patently obvious
a mechanical screw up is, he accepts the realities of the situation only after
he hears the hammer start to fall on the gun you are holding to his head.

George