Recommended Posts

8 minutes ago, philmayfield said:

Ah well, Christians will always interpret the Bible to mean what they want it to mean to suit the occasion. They also have the supreme "get out clause" in that "God has given man free will".

I've had enough of this ethical discussion - I only wanted to know if anyone had used one of those dodgy Eastern European car washes. I will certainly take my wife's through again but not mine. Sod the ethics! ;)

 

I beg to differ.  The free will argument does not cut it.  Free will does not give me the right to chuck a brick through the jewelers Windows.  Please don't put words into our mouths. ;)

 

Hi Phil.  Don't worry I don't take this personally.  I'm not easily offended.  If what I claim to believe is true it is worth defending.

 

That said.  What you are addressing here is really what lies at the heart of the Christian faith and what it means to be a Christian.  I ran my own electrical contracting business for twelve years in Calgary before I went into the ministry.  During that time, like Margies husband, I was often asked if I would give a discount for cash.  My reply was the same.  I don't care how you pay the price is the same.  If they didn't like that they could call somebody else.  I never wanted for a full order book.  I also like to sleep at nights.  I stuck to my side of the estimate too and didn't pad the bill.

 

My wife kept the books.  One time she was offered a job by our accountant because he really liked the way she did them and the credits and debits matched the receipts.  We didn't keep two sets of books as some do.

 

We got tax deductions for our petrol usage for the business.  One day they sent an auditor out to go over our receipts.  He found nothing wrong and commended the book keeping.

 

Some of the first deaths in the church occurred because a couple of folks were lying cheats.  Annanias and his wife Saphira sold some property.  That was fine it was theirs to sell.  They then gave SOME of the money to the church, but lied and said they gave it all.  Just so they thought they would look good in front of everyone else.  The Lord finished 'em both off before the day was out.  Acts chapter 5.  I'm scared of a God like that.

 

You might say, well that doesn't happen today.  Don't be too sure.  I've seen a few cases in my years that really made me wonder.  If you check out the words of Jesus some of His harshest words were for the religious hypocrites of His day.

 

As you correctly say, it seems like everybody is on the fiddle in some way these days.  Well, somebody has to say enough is enough.  Maybe if more folks would do that we would see an improvement.  I am not my brother's keeper in that regard.  Each one will answer for his/her own sin.

 

I'm afraid you are wrong on the brothers keeper quote.  Be careful of Biblical quotes.  It appears in Genesis 4:9. Cain had killed his brother Abel.  In vs 9 God asked him where his brother was.  (God would know.  He was testing Cain). Cain lied and spoke arrogantly to God.  This over a sacrifice.  He was a murderer, a liar, and a religious hypocrite.  This verse simply does not apply to my oversight of someone else's misdeeds.

  • Upvote 1
Link to post
Share on other sites
  • Replies 55
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Posts

There are more crooks living in Englands leafy lanes................than working in car washes..............

Steady on, Phil!   That's a sweeping statement.  Paul was self employed and NEVER fiddled his tax.   When people used to offer him cash, he would always tell them that it didn't matter how they paid,

On a more light hearted note ref Car washes,.......i only use the hand car wash types.........would'nt dream of cleaning it myself just would'nt know what to wear,.....and have'nt used a drive thru fo

All this presupposes that we KNOW for sure they are all rogues. Maybe some are, maybe some are not. I tend to take everyone on trust and try to avoid stereotyping - until I know different.

  • Upvote 4
Link to post
Share on other sites

So Phil you say you will take your wife's large 4x4 car to be cleaned by 'Bulgarian bandits' again. Better than getting a step-ladder out so you can put the suds on the roof eh?!!  They earn their money in my opinion. 

  • Upvote 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

I never mind. At least they're getting off their backsides and working !

  • Upvote 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

I've washed my own car all my car owning years except for occasionally going to one of those wand wash places for a real quick wash and they are self service.  Not keen on the revolving brush ones.  Always been afraid of bumps and scratches.  That's why my 18 year old car still looks like new.  Ga. Is a great place for cars.  Little to no road salt in the winter and mostly dry warm spells the rest of the time so it just doesn't get really dirty.  :)

 

My my first car was a 57 Ford Pop.  If it got really dirty I just opened a new can of Valspar and painted it.  ;)

  • Upvote 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

I can't remember the last time I washed my car. The other day I was driving along Wilford Lane and saw a car wash sign near a sports centre. As my car needed a wash I pulled in and there were five or six foreign chaps. They all had their own part of the car to do and did a great job for £6.

Regarding the other issue between philmayfield and loppylugs it doesn't interest me where the chaps came from or if they're on the fiddle. The whole World is full of crime, corruption and all the other things you know about so the only thing that interested me was getting my car clean. I had to smile when the topic changed from the car wash to religion, typical Nottstalgia, haha.

For those who believe in God no explanation is necessary. For those who don't believe in God no explanation is possible.

  • Upvote 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

I have been self employed for years.

 

Do I fiddle? That's for me to know and you to find out, all I will say is the last time HMCR gave me a random check I got a £168 rebate for over payment. If you remember I also got a rebate this year as they could not work my tax out correctly and my accountant had to challenge them. If my public servants stopped making stupid mistakes and did the job I pay them to do they might just have more time to catch the bad boys, a decent work ethic might help to...

 

We use these car washes every week for the vans, my two lads are fully qualified gas engineers I  want them in peoples houses earning money not washing the van to save a tenner, I doubt if they would do as good a job anyway round. Whether they pay their dues or not that's on their plate, if they don't I hope they get caught.

 

 

  • Upvote 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

#34  No real issue, between me and Phil, Michael.  It was mentioned that us religious folks would take advantage of a shady deal.  I responded.  At least thats the way it looked to me.  Far as I'm concerned it's history.  Phil made his point I made mine. :)  No hard feelings on my part.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Many of these car washes are run by Romanians or Bulgarians on behalf of "charities" back in their home countries. That way, they can avoid business rates while also dealing in cash, so minimising or avoiding any tax liability. 

 

The money they make goes to building nice properties for the "charities" back home, which happen to be run by their own families or criminal gangs.

 

If the people working there are also classed as self-employed, they also become eligible for state benefits. Same as the "Big Issue" sellers.

 

Still, if you're happy to support them by giving them money to wash your vehicles, it's your choice.

 

 

 

  • Upvote 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

On a more light hearted note ref Car washes,.......i only use the hand car wash types.........would'nt dream of cleaning it myself just would'nt know what to wear,.....and have'nt used a drive thru for many years.......not since i had an old banger (bought for the wife) and took it to the 'Car wash' that used to be at Redhill garage......drove in and as the thing  started  i realised i could'nt close my window,knob came off as i tried,anyway just sat there as the machine tore off both wing mirrors and window wipers before nearly drowning us..........on getting out wet thru also noticed front bumper hanging off.........wife bought her own Bangers after that............LOL

  • Upvote 5
Link to post
Share on other sites
14 hours ago, carni said:

We always use the car washes, they are mainly Eastern European and we always pay £3.00. They do a speedy and good job. 

 

Only £3 Carni? Did you go through on your bike?

  • Upvote 4
Link to post
Share on other sites

Always wash my own car,it's a way of keeping an eye on the exterior condition,paintwork,trim etc,can spot if anything is amiss,One thing puzzles me about these "hand car wash" places is,where does all the crappy,oily,greasy water go when they've done? down the drains to pollute the land? at the company I worked for (and all other companies for that matter) all our vehicle wash water had to go into a collector where the contaminants ran off to a safe tank to be collected by a licenced disposal company and the clean water would go to a natural soakaway all monitored by the Environment Agency

 

Rog

Link to post
Share on other sites

Never thought about it Rog..............probably goes same place as all of you that clean your own cars ??

  • Upvote 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

#45 A lot of them are on old garage sites I wonder if that has something to do with their waste.

 

Another thing comes to mind a couple of years back I used to do the plumbing work for The Park Inn on Mansfield Road, they asked me to install a cold water supply that would be used to wash cars. Before undertaking the work I enquired about the waste water as there were only 'top water' drains available, their explanation was that they had to use special detergents that were approved and monitored by Severn Trent. Can't see Raddison the owners cheating on the water by-laws. 

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 3 weeks later...

Went to Sainsbury's Arnold today. As usual a foreign bloke asked me if I wanted my car washing, and as usual I told him 'no'. Then I thought, it's not been washed for over a year, and I am in no fit state now to wash it, so I said 'OK'. When we came back to the car park - wow!. Talk about clean and shiny - like the day it left Longbridge. Not a spec on all of the glass and he even  blacked the tyre walls. Five quid well spent.

  • Upvote 5
Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...