Schinckel.net

I’m trying to get some steel channel manufactured - I ordered some through Home Hardware (it was manufactured by Fielders), and when it arrived, not only was it the wrong amount, but one side had a horrible ripple, making it unsuitable for the purpose. The edge that was rippled needs to sit flush up against some timber, and the ripple would have stood out like “dog’s balls” (ironic, considering Home Hardware used a similar quote in an advertising campaign not too long ago). So, I returned the steel, and have been trying to find some other supplier. The guy from Home tells me “It always has a ripple like that,” which I think is a load of shit, considering the other side was perfect. Having done (and taught) sheetmetal fabricating, I know you can get bloody good results. So, I googled for some other suppliers. I’ve heard of TrueLocal (I’m refusing to link to it), which is a plan by News Limited to try and break into the local tradesperson market, and one of the hits came up. Eventually, I went back to this hit, and had a look. The first thing that annoyed me was that I needed to choose my local area. Surely, in the age of the internets, it is possible for a half decent search engine to figure out what my local area is. Google manages to do it well (and not just by pointing me at Google Oz, but also pinpointing where I am to within the state, if not city!). Still, I had to click “SA”, “Adelaide”, “Adelaide - City” before it even gave me a list. And then, what a list! I didn’t recognise most of the names, but was surprised that:

Your search for Sheet Metal Products Manufacturing in ADELAIDE, SA matches 200 businesses.

Wow! I didn’t realise there were so many manufacturers in Adelaide. Let’s have a look at a couple of them:

• Quality Value Constructions Pty Ltd 40 Franklin St, Adelaide, SA 5000 (08) 8221 5925
• Powell Bros 21 Owen St, Adelaide, SA 5000 (08) 8231 3823

Okay, they sound fine. But then, a little further down:

• Dimond’s Picture Framing 19 Adelaide Arc, Adelaide, SA 5000 (08) 8223 2034

Hmm. I suppose they could manufacture sheet metal photo frames. Maybe.

• Flash Coffee Gelateria 64 Hindley St, Adelaide, SA 5000 (08) 8231 5719

Okay. I’m fairly sure Flash don’t manufacture sheet metal. IIRC, they don’t even make that good of a coffee! Maybe their metal manufacturing plant is out the back. Oh wait, maybe TrueLocal is crap! Oh, and there were other stupid entries, so it wasn’t just like it’s Flash’s fault. Definitely something crazy going on there Mr. Murdoch. And I remember hearing a Podcast about how News Limited is getting ready to take on Google. My money is on the big G.