CORGI reg'd fitters

[Softus]

Ah now here we come to the great british misuse of the word engineer.

...in your questionable opinion, of course.

This time you are confusing the term with gas fitter or plumber.

You believing that Agile is confused is, sadly, not the same as him actually being confused.

Sorry, but I happen to be a electronics design engineer

Well maybe you do "happen" (sic.) to be one, but it hasn't stopped you abusing the word "sorry", has it!

...and as such am continually irked by seeing people in little white vans with "engineer" painted on the side.

What a continually irked existance you must therefore have

 

[Agile]

Robgee's demeaning attitude to heating engineers reminds me of a friend's experience in the removal business.

Having just finished his English Literature degree he needed to earn a few pounds and so he took a casual job with a removal firm.

Having just brought in the grand piano and placed it in the living room the Lady turned on him and said "Why did you put it there, dont you have any intelligence ?"

He swiftly replied " I am not paid to think!"

 

[Softus]

Nice one!

The curious thing is, his attitude, that at first glance appears to be demeaning, reveals something Quite Interesting, which is a narrow-minded (and thereby self-defeating) definition of the word 'engineer'.

I don't know about you Agile, but I've seen a lot of people with a purely scientific background, who have the word "engineer" in a job title that's bestowed upon them, or in a the name of a qualification, who are incredibly closed-minded to new ideas and different opinions - the opposite of how an engineer should be, IMHO.

To me, an engineer is the epitome of the rational and the pragmatic. Tempered with experience, wisdom, and some technical training, an engineer should be well placed not only to design, but to guarantee successful and economic implementation.

A great tutor once offered me (note the word offered) his definition of an engineer: "Someone who can do for a pound [i.e. £1], what any fool could do for ten [i.e. £10]".

That someone can get worked up by some letters on a van is odd, but not unique. It reminds me of a very dear friend (also an engineer) who gets glass-bitingly angry if someone suggests that there are two ways of pronouncing the word "subsidence" - to him there is only one. I guess it takes all sorts to make a world

 

[jdey]

It's funny how the heating "engineers" get upset when I refer to them as cowboys.

For an independent source on the meaning of words, I like to look up Wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engineer
reveals that in a lot of countries an engineer is required to have a degree

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cowboy_(disambiguation)
reveals that a cowboy refers to an unqualified tradesman.

Therefore an "engineer" who doesn't have a degree is "unqualified" and hence a "cowboy".

 

[Softus]

It's funny how the heating "engineers" get upset when I refer to them as cowboys.

Sadly, you believing that some people are upset is not the same thing as those people actually being upset. In other words, your stupid little opinion is utterly irrelevant.

For an independent source on the meaning of words, I like to look up Wikipedia.

S'funny - that's exactly how joe-90 used to think. And he didn't last long on this forum either.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engineer
reveals that in a lot of countries an engineer is required to have a degree

Yawn - Wikipaedia is not an authorative source, which you really should have found out before quoting from it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cowboy_%28disambiguation%29
reveals that a cowboy refers to an unqualified tradesman.

Again, what you've read on that site is just someone else's opinion; it's neither correct nor incorrect, merely an opinion.

Therefore an "engineer" who doesn't have a degree is "unqualified" and hence a "cowboy".

This is a non-sequitor, and you are a non-entity.

 

[corgiman]

what about us that do have degrees?

are we still cowboys?

yipppee kai ya (you know the rest )

 

[jdey]

I think I've found out why Softus gets so uptight about Polish plumbers

http://www.softus.com.pl/

The truth is out there

 

[Softus]

Fair play jdey, I'll give you this one - that's actually quite amusing.

However, please bear in mind that it's only within the maelstrom of your personal and bizarre reality that I'm uptight about anything other than cowboy customers, such as you, and people who make misleading statements about facts (i.e. lies), such as you.

Back in the real world, I have no problem with any plumber of any gender, race, colour, creed or technical ability, since they have no bearing whatsoever on my customers or my order book. In fact, I suppose I really should be thankful for the existence of cowboy traders, because a lot of my jobs involve putting right what they failed to do correctly. If people did things right first time, and made installations easy to maintain, I daresay that I'd have to look elsewhere for a living.

The truth is out there

Given the perspective from which you write, I could not have wished for a more ironic statement

 

[ollski]

It's funny how the heating "engineers" get upset when I refer to them as cowboys.

No shiit sherlock...hilarious.

So glad I got a sports science degree so that I can sleep happily knowing I can be classed as a heating engineer.

 

[chrishutt]

an "engineer" who doesn't have a degree is "unqualified" and hence a "cowboy".

Your deductive powers remain severely impaired jdey. Since you rate wikipedia as an authoritative source, consider this extract from the link that you gave:-

An engineer is ...... a person who uses scientific knowledge to solve practical problems using technology. The title "engineer" is normally used only by individuals who have an academic degree (or equivalent work experience) in one of the engineering disciplines.

By that definition I think many of those who post on this forum can fairly claim to be engineers.

 

[Softus]

An engineer is ...... a person who uses scientific knowledge to solve practical problems using technology...<snip>

By that definition I think many of those who post on this forum can fairly claim to be engineers.

...and it's clear that jdey can't.

 

[corgiman]

WHO THE F CARES!!!!!!

come on for the love of god this is just stupid

jdey stop being a pillock and goading everyone

softus tony stop rising to his bait

its getting boring

 

[Softus]

WHO THE F CARES!!!!!!

Ooh, I think we've still got quite a way to go before it gets really boring

 

[Paul Barker]

Nice one Chris, I would say that our practical experience qualifies us more for the title than some pen pusher or design engineer who has no practical knowledge evidenced by how badly most products are designed both toward installation and use.

 

[corgiman]

WHO THE F CARES!!!!!!

Ooh, I think we've still got quite a way to go before it gets really boring

Mr Softus you are a bad bad man

I am was and always will be a plumber, I have a degree and allsorts of qualifications that have mattered not a jot when at three in the morning i have been soaked whilst trying to stop a flood in a house, or when i have been running around like a mad thing looking for parts for a boiler to make sure someone stays warm.

so if you think i am an engineer fine
if you think i aint the also fine

but as for a cowboy i really dont think so, and as an anecdotal observation I have rarely meet a dedicated "cowboy" in my business I have meet plenty of lads and ladies who lack experiance and cock up, many experianced but knackered people of have cocked up, why I myself have been known, in very very rare occasions, to cock up, but none of them have activley seeked to rip someone off, mislead them with fact or just charged them loads for work that was not done.

they are out there but they, thank heavens, are in the minority.

now just take the people on this site? what money is there in helping out people with their problems? but they do it (even if its to say DONT and get someone in) I have followed several threads with great interest as the chaps batter themselves trying to get to the bottom of a problem, yes we can some times be a bit off with the umpteenth person who is rude or, like you jdey, think we are all talking crap.

I think us plumbers (and all tradesmen in general) are a pretty amicable bunch and love nothing more than trying to prove each other wrong but for the most part, before cash and kudos we do all have the safety and comfort for pillocks like you (jdey) at the forefront of our mind.

I think we are great and YOU will always need us HA HA HA!!!!!!!