GUIDE FOR WOMEN AND AUTOMOTIVE REPAIRS
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Posted:May 21, 2006 10:54 am
Last Updated:May 23, 2006 10:01 am
1912 Views
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OK well I decided to write this because I have a number of female friends who feel they get ripped off every time they get their cars fixed at any shop.
I am an automotive mechanic with over 16yrs in the business so I know a little about what I am talking about. I also work part time for a major
Nextel racing team but lets not go there I’ll never say the name in this blog.....
#1 First when you have a problem with your car and you take it to the shop for repair
try to explain to the mechanic exactly what the problem is your having when it happens
and as much other info you can give. Does it only happen in the morning, Only after you
stop in a store and come back out.
Going in there and saying my car makes a chugging noise or banging noise will only get you laughed at by ever mechanic in the shop all behind your back of course.
#2 Don’t go in to the shop with an attitude... I see this a lot and it gets old fast
Rude, obnoxious, your not going to rip me off because I’m a woman attitude is only
going to piss off the people who are there to help you. NOT EVERY MECHANIC is out to rob you. And with this kind of attitude your likely going to get fucked just because you came in like an ass.
Ask yourself this first who are you more likely to be nice and helpful to.
An asshole with an attitude? Or someone who is polite and respectful to you.
#3 When a problem is found with your car ASK the mechanic to take you out to the car and SHOW you what is wrong with your car. Don’t just take his word for it have him show it to you and explain what is broken.
Its his job if he says its broken he should be able to explain why to your satisfaction. Its not an inconvenience to him and if it is you should go to someone else. (I say this because even if you know nothing about a car you can tell if hes full of crap and lying if he can’t explain to you exactly why its causing the problem your having.
#4 Get an out the door price before you authorize any work to be done.
By this I mean have him give you an exact price, Parts, labor, tax and anything else included.
Ask him to itemize the price so you see what the part price is and the labor.
If you think the price is to high or you question that your car really needs
everything hes saying it does..Then get a second opinion at a different shop.
Note this applies only if your car is still able to be driven. Mechanics are not infallible we make mistakes just like doctors do if you think we are wrong ask a different shop for an opinion and price..
#5 Avoid chain shops, You know the places that advertize on tv with 29.99 prices for brake system repairs. They are the biggest thefts in the business and really are what is giving all shops a bad name. You will NEVER LEAVE THEIR SHOP FOR THAT PRICE.
Most times its 29.99 per wheel they say that in small print to get you in the door. Then you find out you have a 119.96 bill.
Know this brakes cost over the counter 29.99 for a decent set. NO ONE is installing them for free
If its costing the shop 29.99 in order to give you that price they would make no money and that is just not going to happen. Most likely they are going to tell you your rotors are bad or something else is wrong to sell you something else you don’t need to make up for the loss on the brake job.
This is how they make money and why everyone thinks all mechanics are out to rob you.
My advice find a small shop near you build some trust with them and avoid chain shops like the plague..The smaller shop will treat you better because its in there best interest to do so.
They survive by keeping their customers happy. If your happy with what they do your more likely to return and be a regular customer. And most time you might be able to negociate a better price because they don’t want to lose you. But be reasonable he has to make a living too and expects to be paid for working.
#6 One of the biggest complaints I see from all customers is the labor costs on the bill.
Lets be real here for a minute .... Yes labor rates are high average anywhere from 40 to 80 dollars an hour. Answer me this when you go to work do you want to be paid?????
As a mechanic I have MANY costs, Training, Tools, equipment and inspection license cost.
And those costs never end I am constantly buying new tools to keep up with all the new cars that come out. ( I have 20k worth of tools alone.)
And I don’t get paid all of that rate the shop takes most of that money to stay in business and keep all their equipment up to date too.
And that equipment is very costly.......Just some of the cost a/c machine 5k. Engine analyzer 6k
Alignment machine 30k emission test equip 5k. As you can see it adds up fast.
Remember just as you go to work and expect to be treated as a professional and paid like one so do automotive mechanics. We have to make a living just like you we don’t work for free just as you wouldn’t.
Hope this helps somebody next time their car breaks....
Feel free to ask me car repair questions if you like I am always around to help if I can.
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Gender Bender
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Posted:May 20, 2006 10:12 am
Last Updated:Jun 4, 2006 11:41 am
1939 Views
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I was surfing the web for some all new facts you didn't need to know and found an interesting one for y'all.
Oysters can change genders back and forth..male to female and back to male.
Personally I like the side of the fence I am on.
I like being a guy, I like the fact I can walk around without a shirt on when its 80 degrees outside. I like that I can walk around in shorts and not have other people stare like a in heat at my ass cheeks hehe.
And I wouldn�t want to have to deal with that time of the month every month..And I wouldn�t care to experience popping a watermelon out of a hole the size of a small egg.
But if I could change genders for 24hrs only and then go back to being me
Would I?
Hmm I�d have to say I would.
I think it would be a real eye opener to see life through the eyes of the opposite sex for 24hrs.
To see how we are treated differently.
Now I don�t think I�d be quite brave enough to experience anything of a sexual nature but every other aspect would hold an interest.
What about all of you if you could change gender for 24hrs and then go back to being you would you do it?
And just how far would you take those 24hrs? Would you experience sex while changed or like me would you stick to less risque things of
everyday life??? 
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Thinking..........
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Posted:May 19, 2006 9:03 pm
Last Updated:May 20, 2006 9:46 am
1789 Views
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Sorry I tried to think but nothing happens this is all I came up with.
Reading other peoples blogs is sometimes depressing... Alot of people seem to be in the same exact boat I am in just on a different ocean.
It just reminds me its friday night and I'm alone again with nothing more than my two cats a computer and a TV to keep me company...
Hmm I think I'll pop in a few Three Stooges DVDS before I go to bed I need a good laugh now.
What do you all do when you get the bummers?
Watch TV?
Blog it out?
Watch the Stooges? hehe
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Funniest Shit on Earth UPDATED
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Posted:May 18, 2006 3:34 pm
Last Updated:May 24, 2006 5:24 pm
1783 Views
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Ok Y'all something totally different for me today
no joke of my own.
Not sure if your supposed to post links to external site from your blog and I might get in trouble for this but I just have to do it.
This website cartoon is the funniest I have seen in a long time its called Foamy.
illwillpress dot com
Enjoy
Twister
DAMN clicky link in picture didn't work follow the spelled out link I added.
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One for the Rhyming Poets of Blogland
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Posted:May 17, 2006 5:42 pm
Last Updated:May 19, 2006 6:25 pm
1806 Views
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Did you know that no word in the english Language rhymes with the word MOUTH???
Go ahead prove me wrong if you can.
I feel I should say goodluck because your going to need it. 
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LATE BREAKING NEWS GOTD MISSING
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Posted:May 16, 2006 8:28 pm
Last Updated:May 18, 2006 6:50 pm
1801 Views
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Good Evening
This is news net 69 all the news unfit to print and welcome to the evening news.
First we have a late breaking story to report.
This afternoon we reported there were klingon’s circling Uranus it now appears the klingon’s have abandoned there attack on Uranus and have instead decided to attack Venus.
Venus is the reputed home of 94 year old GoddessOfThedawn and bringer of Dawnz.
It appears the Klingon’s have dumped 1000 Tribbles on the planets surface which quickly turned to 10000. And appear to be expanding exponentially . At this rate the surface will be covered in two days.
Officials fear GOTD is in extreme danger of being snuggled to death by hairball.
All attempts to contact GOTD have failed. Last attempt resulted in garbled communication with static and a strange squeaky sound coming from the background. Scientist have not been able to identify the squeaky noise at this time.
IS THIS THE END OF DAWNZ?
Stay Tuned for addition information as it becomes available.
Also in the News.
Reports indicate Knot4everyone has a stalker problem. Latest news indicates Knot4 asked for advice in dealing with the stalker as was told by an unidentified source.
(Quote) Just pepper spray the bastard.
We will report more as it becomes available.
More News.
EroticaXTC posted a geographical picture of her humps her humps her lovely lady lumps.
She reported there were imperfections of her exterior locations.
However After an extensive search by NASA using the latest imaging technology available no imperfections have been found.
Pehaps a more upclose and personal inspection will be requierd.
Stay Tuned
Thanks for watching News net 69 and good night
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For All you Campers and General Nature Nuts
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Posted:May 16, 2006 6:05 pm
Last Updated:May 18, 2006 6:26 pm
1807 Views
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Next time your out in the great outdoors here is something to consider before you leave the house without skeeter repelant hehe.
Fact #1
Mosquitoes are attracted to the color black.
Black shirts, Black shorts, Black bikinis.
Fact #2
Mosquitoes are attracted to people who just ate bananas. (no idea why) But true.
Fact #3
Mosquitoes have 47 teeth. (all the better to have brunch on your arm)
On a side note totally unrelated.....
You share your birthday with 9 million others in the world. (Imagine the candles on one big cake)
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4
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Hummingbird's
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Posted:May 15, 2006 4:59 pm
Last Updated:May 17, 2006 3:43 pm
1789 Views
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Yea there cute and fast but did you know?
Fact #1
A hummingbirds heart beats 1400 times a minute.
Fact #2
A hummingbird weighs less than a penny.
Fact #3
hehe yea they are cute.
On a side note...
A ducks quack doesn't echo. yea totally unrelated fact but I felt like tossing it in.
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Haunting Memorys and tears for a stranger
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Posted:May 14, 2006 11:14 am
Last Updated:May 17, 2006 5:33 pm
1886 Views
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A haunting memory and the tears of a stranger.
It was June 18 1996, A vivid memory from my past long since tried to be forgotten,
but I realize that is a vain hope and some things never really go away.... they just slip to the back of your mind slightly out of focus in the shadows till something brings them back into the light.
It was late around 11pm there was a light drizzle of rain in the air and it was starting to get foggy outside because there was a slight chill in the air. I was driving home from work it had been a long day and I was in a hurry to get home and eat and take a shower. I was speeding 80 mph in a 55 zone. To fast for the conditions I know but I knew the road well. Radio blasting just chill in and hoping a deer didn�t jump out onto the road in front of me when all of a sudden along comes a car speeding behind me and gaining fast. I think if I am doing 80 they have to be doing 100 to gain that fast. Along they come and pass me bye, a Black BMW just flying high.
The driver doesn�t know it yet but their destiny is rapidly approaching them just up ahead.
You see up ahead concealed by the rain the fog and the night is a sharp bend in the roadway
hidden like a thief in the night. I try desperately flashing my lights and laying on my horn to warn them to slow down. To warn them.......if only I could warn them....if only.
They didn�t listen they didn�t pay attention...away they went continuing to speed continuing to lose sight of them.
Continuing on to the cold fate that awaits them speeding towards there destiny....
I slowed knowing what was ahead and hoping...hoping that somehow I wouldn�t find what I knew would be there hoping that somehow they cheated that curve in the road, somehow cheated that cold hand of fate.
As I got close enough to see through the fog and the rain, there I saw what I had prayed I wouldn�t.
The black BMW moments before all sleek and new now laying upside down all torn and twisted
it made me feel blue. Too fast for the turn to fast to fast for the rain and too fast to learn.
I pulled over got out of my car ran to the trunk grabbed the flares and tossed them all over the road. By now a driver behind me had stopped and I yelled call the police and the paramedics.
I ran to the overturned car and to my horror I see, A sweet young girl no older than 16.
She had hair as blond as honey and eyes as blue as the sea and there she was just looking up at me. She was crying and bleeding trapped in what used to be a car.
As hard as I tried I could not get her free and I could see from her injuries she was not long to be.
I tried and tried to get her seatbelt free trying desperately to free her from the wreckage of a car that used to be. Finally I was able to release the belt and pulled her from the vehicle
She cried and pleaded with me..... please don�t let me die. Please I am afraid to die I don�t want to die. Please she cried. I looked her straight in the eye and without a flinch I lied.....I lied and told her she was going to make it she was going to be fine. Just hang in there and stay with me your not going to die.
I held her hand and caressed her face trying to comfort and protect her from the fate I knew would await.
I held her close trying to keep her warm trying to keep her from shock trying to keep her from the cold cruel fate that I knew would await.
Her blood continued to flow like a crimson tide and as hard as I tried it just would not abide.
I waited for the police and EMT�s for what seemed like hours, In reality it was only 10 minutes.
Time seems an eternity when life is hanging in the balance. Suddenly nothing else in the world seems to mean a damn and that appointment you had is like a single grain of sand on a beach in a far off land.
As I held her and comforted her she became calm and peaceful her breath became labored and long.
She looked up at me and smiled and then she was gone. Her body went limp and in her hand there was not longer a grip. Her eyes just stared at me.....but not really at me it was as if she was staring at a far off and sunny field that only she could see.
I closed her eyes and gently lay her on the ground placing my coat under her head as if I could somehow still make her comfortable.
The police came made their reports and away I went numb, cold and wet.
All the way home my mind was blank mindful of my speed and nothing else.
I am a man after all I can see death and have no emotion right? Real men don�t cry.
That worked till I got home put my keys on the table and went upstairs to take a nice hot shower yea I convinced myself that�s all I really need and I�ll be right as rain again.
It worked until I walked in the bathroom and looked in the mirror. And there it was staring back at me. An image of horror I never wanted to see. I was cover in blood but it was not my own, Blood that only an hour ago was that of a life no more to be seen.
And as I stood there the tears started to flow.......tears for a stranger the rest of the world will never get to know.
Tears for a girl who�s life was too short...tears for all she now will never get to know.
Tears for all she will never see.
She will never see her senior prom, She will never see her graduation party, She will never see her first true love, She will never fall in love and be married ,she will never know the joys of .
And she will never grow old
Tears shed for a stranger that even if for only a short while has touched me for the rest of my life.
And even years later I remember her and her smile as though it were yesterday.
All that runs through my mind is a lonely what if.
What if she had heard me and slowed down, What if �s and if only�s.
Where would she be today and what would she be doing.
If Only she wasn�t driving wreck less.
I wouldn�t have to be shedding tears for a stranger the world will never have a chance to know.
On mothers day my heart as always goes out to her family.
My prayers are with you and Amanda.
Dave
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Tears of a Stranger
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Posted:May 14, 2006 11:10 am
Last Updated:May 14, 2006 11:11 am
1714 Views
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Above is a poem of sorts I wrote about a young girl I once met. Someone who left a lasting impact on my life.
Its about a life cut to short by wreckless youth.
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FACT OF THE DAY
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Posted:May 12, 2006 3:17 pm
Last Updated:May 13, 2006 8:52 pm
1691 Views
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Since this is a new thing for my blog I'll give you a few then one a day hehe like a vitamin. Err maybe if I remember
Fact #1
The average person will eat about 8 spiders in their life while they sleep.
Fact #2
Animals that lay eggs Don't have belly buttons.
Fact #3
The Mona Lisa has no Eye Brows.
Fact #4
The Average Woman consumes 6 LBS of Lipstick in her lifetime. {=}
Fact#5
A one minute kiss burns 26 calories
HAHA all are true more to follow tomorrow.
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Honesty Question? Read Me carefully
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Posted:May 12, 2006 11:29 am
Last Updated:May 13, 2006 8:51 pm
1743 Views
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This is about women with profiles on both Passion and other more vanilla dating sites.
My question is this why do their profiles list totally different wants and needs on each profile.
Are they outright liers or just game players?
Case in point I am a member of Passion as well as Match and Yahoo personals so I have access to numerous profiles. And I noticed more than a few female members of Passion with profiles there as well.
On Passion they say they are not looking for one night stands or just looking for a fuck buddy nothing long term and post nudes of themselfs in various sex acts.
But I see the SAME women post profiles on Match and Yahoo saying they are looking for only long term relationships and guys looking for one night stands or just sex need not apply.
Do these women have a duel personality disorder or are they outright lieing about what they are looking for?
What is anyone elses opinion of these women.
I would really like to understand why they do this. If you are reading this and happen to be one of them what is the reasoning behind this?
My profiles on all sites are worded slightly different than Passion but the context is the same
looking for LTR not looking for one nighterz.
I'm not looking at guys profiles but I wonder if this is prevalent among their profiles too?
Ladies have you noticed this also?
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To link to this blog (rm_Twister2bed) use [blog rm_Twister2bed] in your messages.
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