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Thursday 7 February 2013

Well, it made us smile..

Miss Dunnit and I visited her grandparents, my parents.  We had lunch, chat, blah and then were hustled on our way home for fear of freezing driving conditions.  Remember that even though I'm nearly fifty and have a nineteen year old child of my own, my parents still think I'm only just qualified to do ANYTHING and desperately inexperienced at EVERYTHING.  It was ever thus.  This is why, I suspect, that they are always so fulsome in their praise when I accomplish anything.  It's always a complete surprise!  
Anyway, the daughter and I are good at chatting and travelling together and it so happens that at the traffic lights, we pulled up behind this van.  We glanced at it for some seconds and then, I kid you not...we looked at each other and said to each other 'hmm, that strap line doesn't help at all' and fell about laughing.
Now I realise it's not heeelarious, but as neither of us have a clue what an acutator or indeed a dashpot is, the market appeal of this apparent advertising isn't universal, huh!  Oh my, we did try, based on the company name, to decide what they did.  Closest we got was that actuators are something to do with mechanical engineering...and dashpots..well, you can imagine.  No doubt there are lots of you that know and will enlighten me, but meanwhile, enjoy the idea of us giggling like fools whilst we pondered the merits of sign writing and the odd dashpot.
Linking this to Annie's Smiles. Gotta love an excuse to share a smile.
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38 comments:

  1. Annie7 February 2013 at 08:48

    Just brilliant Julia. Surely the whole idea of advertising is that you know what they do? I really don't know whether to ring them or not now :-)
    Hugs,
    A x

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  2. Annie7 February 2013 at 08:51

    Hehehe I have just looked it up and really still not sure if I could use their services :-)
    Hugs,
    A x

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  3. Helen7 February 2013 at 08:52

    I might have to google it... Laughed at the parent - when my ex and I used to go to visit my then in-laws, practically the first thing they asked was, when are you leaving!!! Although on balance this may not have been for concern about the journey...

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  4. Unknown7 February 2013 at 09:13

    Julia my parents were the same, at least my Dad was, at 3pm he would say 'well clear off then' ha ha he was always worried about me travelling the huge 7 kilometers amongst traffic bless him.
    Elaine

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  5. voodoo vixen7 February 2013 at 09:19

    Oooh classic, love the dashpots!! I can imagine the hilarity going on behind them! I almost want one just to be able to drop it into conversation... and then the dashpot failed... ;)

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  6. Twiglet7 February 2013 at 09:25

    Ugh! the thought of overflowing dashpots blocking your actuator!!! (I have no idea either Julia!) Thanks for the giggle. x Jo

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  7. Jaki Morris7 February 2013 at 09:39

    Sounds almost Shakespearean

    Jakix

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  8. Fiona@Staring at the Sea7 February 2013 at 10:00

    I don't have a clue, but no doubt if I ask my husband (the mechanic) he'll know! My Mum is just the same as your parents. I often have to remind her I'm 44 not 4!

    Fiona x

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  9. Glenda7 February 2013 at 10:34

    I have no idea what this is...actuator sounds terribly important and dashpots.....well this has just made me smile. Thanks for sharing!

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  10. Eliza7 February 2013 at 10:50

    You were using an acutator when driving your car, actually your piston is a form of acutator, it converts energy to move you.

    Eliza

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  11. Shaz in Oz.CalligraphyCards7 February 2013 at 11:02

    ah so glad all dashpots an actuators were functioning correctly on your trip to and from Ma and Pa's :D

    .. dont you love it when such trivia lighten up a trip..:D like games we played on our eight or more hour car trips as kids going on hols. love Shaz in Oz. x

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  12. Kirsty.A7 February 2013 at 12:13

    You do make me smile, Julia. I'm not going to look up Dashpot - much prefer my own definition! And I know exactly how you feel re: the parents. Exactly how grown up do I have to be before they trust me??

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  13. Kate7 February 2013 at 12:16

    Is it similar to a Despot and do trolls actually fit into it somewhere??

    OH's parents are unbearable - in many ways. But one is that they treat him and consequently me like children. I have left their company seething on many occasions!

    ** Kate **

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  14. Claire Grantham7 February 2013 at 13:04

    Ok here's a bit of geek for you (I'm secretly an engineer..) In laymans terms a dashpot is used to control liquid, pressure etc - mostly used to control the slamming of a car door..Hence why they are called 'Kinetrol' it's a bad engineering pun - Kinetic control.... Cx

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  15. Hettie7 February 2013 at 13:19

    Not sure about the actuator but my old Volvo had a dashpot which I think was something to do with keeping your pistons happy! That sounds bad! It had to be checked weekly and topped up with oil when necessary!
    That van will mean something to somebody!
    x

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  16. Elizabeth7 February 2013 at 15:13

    I can quite see why it made you smile - dashpots do sound like soemthing from a Dickensian age :) Perhaps it's code, understood only by those in the know! Elizabeth xx

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  17. BJ7 February 2013 at 15:13

    Same age, same relationship with mother and YES same sense of humour - ROFL.

    I have no idea and am about to read the other comments to see if anyone has enlightened you - LOL

    So glad Hammers explained it all, saves me looking it up but will ask DH later - heck I'll just send your like to him at work - he's an engineer..........

    Thanks oh thanks for the laugh and the comments it elicited which made me laugh oh so much more. BJ

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  18. Monica7 February 2013 at 15:23

    I will have pot quiz with DH tonight. he knows everything mechanical and more. I though it was and accounting thing!!!

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  19. Scrapcat 17 February 2013 at 16:07

    Love the idea of you sitting there laughing away I would have too :)

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  20. Kimbo7 February 2013 at 16:17

    I hope you were near home when you saw this or you may have wet yourselves laughing x

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  21. Crafty Lark7 February 2013 at 16:56

    Oh! well now you got me wondering if I could have dashpots fitted to all my house doors to stop peeps banging them. Thank you for the smile. xx Flora

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  22. Redanne7 February 2013 at 17:18

    Well a big thank you to Hammers for enlightening us! Julia, this was such fun to read though so thank you to you too.....always good to have a giggle. Hugs, Anne x

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  23. Brenda B7 February 2013 at 18:41

    I like dashpot, it sounds like one of those gentle insult type of words... you know "you silly old dashpot"!! I get the parent thing, apparently when Andrew was in the UK my mam told me she worried about me in our big house on my own! I asked her what the size of the house had to do with it, and she'd worry just the same if I lived in a bedsit!

    Hugs
    Brenda

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  24. trisha too7 February 2013 at 18:45

    Well thanks to you and Brenda, I am now going to call everyone who annoys me in the slightest a "dashpot."

    :)

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  25. Belinda Basson7 February 2013 at 18:57

    Well if Kinetrol ever looks at their behind the scenes web page numbers they are going to be intrigued by a load of hits suddenly generated by your blog! They might even think they have got their marketing right! ROFL! I too thank Hammers for the laymans terms as the web site was not enlightening!

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  26. fairy thoughts7 February 2013 at 22:21

    you are hilarious.
    even my handyman didnt know but was striaght on google. I haven't read the other comments .. no doubt others knew before me ... but here it is anyway... dashpot something to do with stopping friction. actuator....coverts energy into motion.... glad we cleared that up.
    love the thought of the 2 of you in histerics never mind the pistons
    janet

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  27. Bridget Larsen7 February 2013 at 22:24

    hahaha they are obviously catering for an exclusive market only Engineers will understand so they dont get sticky beaks like us calling up

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  28. RosA7 February 2013 at 23:16

    I grinned too, but I think I guessed all along that it had something to do with engineering (DH is an electrical engineer). But I do prefer all the alternative explanations of "dashpot" and it does sound sooo Dickensian!

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  29. MaggieC (Silvercrafter)8 February 2013 at 00:01

    I just had to google the company just to be nosy and to learn, of course. I suspect half the men in the country would understand it, but I had to ask for extra explanation. Still, it was good to have such a good giggle on your journey. Have lots more fun this week. xx Maggie

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  30. Christine8 February 2013 at 08:55

    apparently a dashpot is situated next to the fufflevalve.......... thats according to my DH!
    brilliant post to start the day
    xx

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  31. Craftychris8 February 2013 at 12:58

    It made me laugh too! I just love to imagine what a dashpot is! I don't want to know the proper meaning cause its such a cool word! xx

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  32. Alison Scott8 February 2013 at 13:21

    Fantastic.
    I thought it sounded like something the original Batman and Robin would say (Holy Dashpots Batman!)
    Great giggles in this house for that.
    Thanks Julia.

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  33. Princess Judy Palmer8 February 2013 at 15:30

    I'm with you, have no idea about my dashpots and actuators but I do know it is best if they are in working order.

    I've seen a truck here in town advertising "Zebra Exterminating." It always makes me laugh. I didn't know anyone had a zebra problem here in the American Southwest. Good to know if a rogue herd of zebras come through though that I have someone to call.

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  34. Bethan8 February 2013 at 19:57

    well i googled....none the wiser!!!!

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  35. Darnell8 February 2013 at 22:23

    Oh my garters, Julia, I wouldn't have been able to kinetrol myself either! I'd have piston my pants, never mind trying to make it to the dash pot!!

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  36. Shea9 February 2013 at 04:01

    Fabulous post, fabulous blog, I'm hooked, and I'm going to follow. I think I could spend the rest of the night and all day tomorrow exploring, but what I HAVE to do (now that it's nearly 10:00 and the house still smells like tonight's fish dinner) is go clean the kitchen. I don't want to, the "fragrance" dictates I must. Will be back tomorrow to enjoy more!

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  37. JoZart Designs9 February 2013 at 11:09

    Darnell beat me to it as I was going to suggest that the dashpot was to be piston ! I look at things just as you did and this really gave me a chuckle. Now you've just got to ring up and find out what they are all about!
    Have a great weekend!
    Jo x

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  38. Sue from Oregon9 February 2013 at 17:01

    There is always google Julia!

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