From: none@none.com99   
      
   On 10/4/2024 3:15 PM, Snag wrote:   
   >    I dropped the axle from my '86 GMC pickup off at the shop yesterday .   
   > It's going in for "major surgery" ... The stock 2.73:1/standard   
   > differential gear set is being replaced with a set of 3.42's and a posi   
   > locker . I have apparently ventured a bit farther into the "high   
   > performance" realm than I meant to . Since I've got it tuned a bit   
   > better I've been having problems starting from a dead stop without the   
   > truck making screeching noises . I'm hoping the new stuff will improve   
   > that situation ...   
   >    I'm also hoping the gas mileage improves . The motor build was   
   > optimized for 3.42 gears , I should be in a more efficient RPM band with   
   > the new gears . Which is also in the torque band , so my trans should   
   > have to shift gears less often .   
   >    And as my neighbor told his wife when she asked what all this was for   
   > "better burnouts!" .   
      
      
   How do you find "other people" you trust to do work for you.  I've had   
   absolute shit luck with that.  It's the main reason I do so many   
   different things myself.   
      
   A plumber who leaves a shower dripping and says he'll come back the next   
   day with the right stuff to fix the valve, and never comes back.  A   
   mechanic you ask specifically to do specific preventative repairs or do   
   specific tests and those are the primary reason you brought work to   
   them, and they just do a routine service and ignore what you brought it   
   in for.  A shop that says they'll check their schedule and call you back   
   the next day to let you know when they can do some work, who then tries   
   to gas light you and claim it was the other way around.  Another shop   
   that says you have to lift the bed of a truck to do a job (some jobs you   
   do or its the easier way), and you have already researched and know they   
   are just trying to juice the price.  Another shop that takes your money   
   and even after they have your money you have to ask them when it will be   
   ready TWICE before they say it will be four months before they can get   
   the item you ordered... you ask for your money back, order it yourself   
   FROM THE MANUFACTURER, and have it delivered in less than two week from   
   the opposite side of the country by truck... for less. A refrigeration   
   tech who straight up lies and says that a refrigerant is no longer   
   available, so you will need a whole new system, and then you have it   
   delivered the next day ordered off eBay... When you call the reseller   
   they let you know they can't make it anymore, but it will be decades   
   before they run out.   
      
   When I was a kid I lived 60 miles from town.  We had a country store   
   (and later split it into two stores) with just about everything.   
   Groceries, fresh meat and produce, hardware, dry goods, guns, auto   
   parts, tools, etc etc.  We didn't learn to fix everything ourselves   
   because we had a choice.  We learned to fix everything ourselves because   
   we couldn't even get somebody to come out.  I learned basic electrical,   
   construction, refrigeration, plumbing, and wrenching because if we   
   didn't do it ourselves we wouldn't have light, shelter, cold food, a   
   shower, and we would have to walk.   
      
   Well I don't live 60 miles from town anymore, and there are multiple   
   businesses "available."  Generally I don't even dicker over price.  I   
   ask them how much and decide either I have that much or I don't.  Last   
   week I walked out of three shops just trying to get a gooseneck under   
   bed turnover ball hitch installed in my new truck.  Not one was because   
   of price.  One gas lit me claiming they didn't say what they said.   
   Another straight up lied to me.  The third said it was a piece of cake   
   and then made it clear they had never installed a hitch on anything   
   before and didn't have a clue how to do it.  Yeah, I guess they lied to   
   me too.  In none of those cases do I trust them to do a good job.  Its   
   not that I can't do it.  Its that I just don't want to.  I've installed   
   in bed hitch systems before.  Its a bit of a pain (although this one   
   "should" be easier) and I just don't want to.   
      
   I had similar issues last year when trying to get a hitch installed on   
   my wife's car for an electric scooter carrier.  Its a lease so I really   
   wanted to have a "professional" install it.  Yeah, nope.   
      
   I am so fucking tired.  I have cash money.  I just want to hire somebody   
   to do a job right the first time.  Whatever the job.  I've spent my   
   whole life doing things myself.  When I was growing up because their was   
   no who would do it and I had no choice, later because I didn't have the   
   money to pay somebody, and now well because I don't have any choice   
   again.  One day I'm not going to be physically able to do it myself, and   
   then I'll just be fucked.   
      
   Now don't get me wrong.  I've had a few businesses give me great   
   service.  Unfortunately with a large portion of them the instant I sing   
   their praises they do something shitty.  I like to reward good behavior   
   and not reward bad behavior, but I'm afraid to post a positive review or   
   make a recommendation anymore.   
      
   Lots of people I guess are more tolerant.  They seem to get by in this   
   screw and lie business climate.  I was raised in business and I would   
   have gone to school the next day with purple welts on my ass if I   
   treated a customer like I feel I am treated in many businesses around   
   here.   
      
   To be fair there is another issue.  We do have a large part time   
   blizzard chicken population and there is a distinct prejudice against   
   snowbirds by many locals including local businesses who do not directly   
   profit from the "tourist" trade.  I have a grey beard and greying hair.   
   I guess I may look like an annoying blizzard chicken to them.  I'm not   
   particularly vane about my looks, but I am tempted to die my hair and my   
   beard to see if it makes a difference with some of them.   
      
   Listen to me bitch and whine.  Its just something to procrastinate for a   
   couple minutes before I walk outside and drill a giant hole in the bed   
   of my new truck.  Actually I am getting prepped, but I have shop work   
   for customers I have to do first.  I'll probably install the hitch   
   tomorrow.  I hope.   
      
   Oh, yeah.  I sold my Jeep and my Silverado 2500 AFTER buying a new   
   truck.  Dealerships just suck.  Took me 3 months to find the truck I   
   wanted from a dealer that didn't just BALD FACED LIE about their   
   advertised price, bait and switch on me, grossly undervalue trades,   
   and/or grossly over value what they had.  One dealer did all four of   
   those.  Several did more than one.  One sent me a quote where the base   
   price before extras was higher than the advertised price and the final   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)