RowdyRebel

LOL! Can't think about rental cars/trucks without thinking about Jeff Foxworthy's bit about 'em... 😂

Worst part is, if they'd JUST done the bare minimum...drop the battery in the box, run a couple jumpers, & strap it back down, I wouldn't have been all that aggrevated about the orientation or crap crimps...they were installing the extra battery we were buying for free since it was there for the other work...one burner on the stove wouldn't ignite on its own, but would after the other 2 were going...drawers & cabinet doors wouldn't stay closed WHILE EMPTY on the short drive home from the dealer...and the power jack on the front is supposed to have a light, but the light quit working before we even got it home. Like I said, all warranty work except for the 2nd battery (which was supposed to be on when we took delivery, but word didn't get passed along to the guy prepping it). Anyway, pissed off the wife last night...THOUGHT I ws doing good, too. Unloaded the dishwasher & went through the boxes of dishes we got from my grandma...LOTS of tupperware cups, bowls, and microwave & oven safe (just not broiler or range top) cookware. I figured it'd be great for the camper...not breakable, light weight, etc...and loaded up a load to get it cleaned up (they've been out in the garage for a year or so). She gets home & opens the dishwasher and says "those are ugly". Sure, they're kind of a dark yellowy tan color...not my 1st choice either (or 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or 5th for that matter)...but they were free, won't break, and still work just fine. Funny thing is, she thinks they'll be fine for the house...just not the camper.🤦‍♂️ Wimmins.🤷‍♂️

I've been cussing up a storm today. Wife got a text that the travel trailer was ready to be picked up. Brand new unit, had a couple minor things that needed attention. Anyway, one of those things was they were supposed to drop in a 2nd battery we'd asked for and run the jumper wires. The box was already on there. So what did they do? Run 4 self-tapping screws through the bottom of the plastic battery box into the steel battery tray. Keep in mind, the OTHER battery box was still just setting in there held by the strap...just like it was when we originally bought the trailer. Why they felt the need to screw this one on, so tight that the heads of the self-tapping screws had torn the bottom of the box to the point where they weren't actually holding anything in place, just providing 4 real nice soon-to-be rusty sharp points protruding beneath the front of the trailer to find their way into my noggin if I ever have to slide under there to do anything in the future. To top it all off, they didn't even orient the batteries in the same direction. They had the positive terminals on the outside with the grounds in the middle, so they had a long positive jumper and a short little ground jumper. Yes, electrically it's fine...but it looks fucking sloppy. Maybe it's just me, but if there's multiple batteries in a system, they should all be facing the same direction. So I ended up buying a 3rd battery box, which is different than the other 2 so now I'll be buying a 4th that either matches the other 2 or the new one I just bought. Then I welded up the holes, ground them smooth, wire wheeled the powder coating to smooth it all out before repainiting. Yeah, it looks like crap because the powder coating had a little texture, while the repaired areas are smooth...which is going to piss me off all over again every time I have the battery boxes out and see it...but at least there's no more holes in the tray and no sharp pointy soon-to-be rusty objects poking through. Then I took a pair of cheap 6-gauge jumper cables and made a new jumper wire. I'll probably end up picking up some more ring crinps to solder on to use the bonded jumper cable wire to run out of the batter box to the camper's power & ground...just looks better than the thinner gauge loose wires. Pretty easy to do...just heat 'em up with a torch, fill them with solder, stick the stripped end of the wire in, let it cool, then put some heat-shrink tube on there and hit it with the heat gun to finish it out. Nice, sealed, professional looking cables...not the crappy looking scrap wire with the cheap plastic insulated crimps crimped on so the plastic insulation is cracked & distorted. Anyway, my wife thinks I over-reacted...that it's no big deal...but she's not the one that was going to end up with a rusty self-tapping screw tearing a hole in her head in a few years. Sad thing is, I'd already done some work on it...safety wired the end caps in the back bumper, added some reverse lights, slid the spare tire over, and added a receiver hitch to the back bumper to carry the cargo rack that'll hold the generator & a couple gas cans. If they'd paid attention to the quality of work I do myself, they'd know what I expect. Maybe I just shouldn't have anyone else working on mystuff...but most of what we were having them do was warranty work, so why should I do it?

I was at a company yard once when another O/O rolled in & started bragging about the "great deal" he got on a new set of drives. Yeah, they all still had the nipples on them from the molds, so they were still pretty fresh...but I noticed 4 of them were random brands that didn't match the other 4 tires. Also, the quarter fender on one side and the mudflap on the other were missing. Turns out, it was less than 100 miles since getting that awesome deal on the new tires, and 4 of them had already let go. He hadn't even pulled a load with them & already had to replace half of them. Some deal, right?🙄

When I ran Michelins, have my own cases capped 3 times...HAD to in order to bring the tire cost within reason. Then switched to Khumos & was putting virgins on for the price I was paying to have my own cases capped...so I just ran new tires. Never had any issues running my own cases, capped by a reputable shop. Company I used to pull for ran caps...anybody's caps...and used the cheapest place they could find to wrap new tread on the tires. The only requirement they seemed to have was that it held air...and even that wasn't a hard & fast rule. As a general rule, each tire had a 50/50 shot of blowing out in the 1st 2 weeks...and if they made it past that, you were generally good to go. Got a nail in a tire once on a company trailer, a month or 2 into a new set of junk caps. Tire shop came & got me from the waiting room, saying they weren't going to fix that tire. Nail had gone right through one of probably a dozen patches on the inside of the tire...some of which were even on the sidewall! And the company pencil pushers wondered why half the new caps they mounted were blowing out.🤦‍♂️

"I had the right...I did not have the ability..." -Ron White

Hell, I'd be absolutely lost without my wife. She keeps track of the day-to-day stuff...laundry done, dinners cooked when she's not at work, dishes done, grocery shopping, makes sure the kids get to their doctor appointments, etc...and she stays on top of writing the checks to pay the bills. I fix stuff. Washer breaks, I fix it. Vehicle breaks, I fix it. I mow the yard, trim the trees, clean the gutters, take care of the horses, etc...time escapes me & it seems 2-3 months go by in the blink of an eye. Those "past due" notices quit showing up when she took over writing the checks, not that I didn't have the money to pay them...time just flew by and I didn't get the checks written to send off. We make a pretty good team, actually, and it works. Absolutely amazing how often she'll mention something she wants to get & I pull out my phone and show her pics I've been taking while pricing the same thing she was looking for...and I've probably heard her say "you're right" to me more than any other married guy has heard those words from his wife in the history of mankind...so she's smart, too.😂 It'll be our 9-year anniversary next month, but it's been almost 21 years since I met her. Just took me that long to convince her to leave Texas for Illinois. If I lived pretty much anywhere else, it may not have taken so long...but it's Illinois. NOBODY wants to move here. We're trying to leave, but people willing to buy a house here are few & far between. Not sure when "the change" happens to wifes that turn 'em bitter, and I suppose it's different for every couple. I'm hoping that never happens to her. Buddy of mine had his turn sour in 3-4 years, and I wouldn't wish what he went through on my worst enemy.😬

Mack (used to, anyway) put 'em on 1 drive axle if the truck was spec'd with a 12k steer axle, and both drive axles if the steer was >12k. I've seen too many 1-axle parking brake trucks that can't hold their own while loaded & parked...gotta pop the trailer brakes, too, or you'll roll down even the slightest of hills. Most road trucks only have a 12k steer.

I wouldn't expect a shop to perform work they don't typically do. However, a safety issue ought to be brought to the customers attention so they can take it to a shop that does that sort of work. A simple "While we were changing your tires, we noticed your lower ball joint is sloppy loose, and really needs to be changed. We don't do that here, but you need to have that taken care of as soon as possible to avoid it coming apart while you're driving down the road" would've gone a long way in building trust in the work you are having them do.

Depending upon the age of the washer/dryer, you might just regret doing that. The new ones aren't built as well as the old ones, are pretty easy to fix, and parts are relatively cheap. Shipping isn't, but the parts are. I had to replace the agitator cogs in my washer a month or two ago...$5 for the part, $15 to have it shipped "economy" (be there in a week or two, no tracking). Could've got 'em overnighted with tracking, but it was hard enough justifying paying 3x the cost of the part just to get it next week and they wanted a couple times more than that to get it to me quickly...especially aggrevating when it would've easily fit in the small $5 flat-rate USPS box & been here in 2-3 days WITH a tracking number. It's annoying when these places don't use the best available shipping option. Anyway, parts & pieces are easier to carry up & down stairs, and (except for the shipping charges) are less expensive.

Welp, got it all apart, old ball joints out, new ball joints in, and the steering knuckle loosely installed. Tomorrow I'll pick up a couple seals on my way home so I can repack the wheel bearings as I put it all back together. As long as the rain quits, it should go together pretty quick. Otherwise, it's going to be miserable...but it's got to get done. Need it Saturday morning.

😱😱😱 I paid $38K for an '01 with 250k miles in '08. E7-460P/T2180B/4.17 Mack rears on air ride. 240" WB daycab. It's got a 12.8k steer, so parking brakes on both drives. Then again, it's got about 150k on the new motor now as it sits in the driveway...been parked for 5 years at the end of this summer. Last guy that wanted to buy it (it's not for sale) pushed me to name a price, and I told him I'd consider letting it go for $850k. Sounds like my price wasn't too far off...🤑🤑🤑😂

...and yet there's more. It's a damn good thing I was putting new shocks on the old 'burban last night because when I jacked up the front end to pull off the wheels to have easier access to everything, there was about 2" of play in the front left wheel. Lower ball joint is junk. Now, either the guy at Walmart who was changing the tires is entirely incompetent and shouldn't be turning a wrench on ANY vehicle in which case he didn't notice, or else he saw the problem and failed to make any notes about it or tell the customer about the severe safety issue in which case he's negligent and has no business turning a wrench on ANY vehicle. So, I picked up the new ball joints for this side & paid WAY too much for them (Summit has the exact same ones for less than half the price...but I can't wait for them to get here). I'll order the other side to get them done in the next week or two (they're still tight...but probably just as old). Got it all ready to come off the truck...except I can't find my dadgum Dana 44 spanner socket to get the stupid hub nut off. Guess I'm done for the night. I was hoping to have the ball joints done tonight, replace the motor mounts tomorrow night, and still have 1 night left to spare. Pick the new camper trailer up on Saturday & need the Suburban to pull it home. At this point, I'm thinking it might just be easier to put the timing cover gasket in the F250 and use it on Saturday, but then who knows what that job will throw at me. Getting ready to go on a road trip this summer with the family...gotta have it ready to go. Picked up a dual pod pillar gauge mount so I can finally mount the transmission temperature gauge, as well as the new air/fuel ratio gauge I picked up with the wide band O2 sensor. Want to get that carb tuned, but can't do that until I know where it needs adjusting. Then there's the new muffler & tailpipe to weld on...and still need to order up a rear sway bar. Also considering replacing the steering stabilizer...probably doesn't NEED that, but who knows how old the one that's on there is. Probably throw some new brake pads on there, too...all while working 55-60 hour weeks with 3 hours/day spent driving to & from work and taking care of the horses. Needless to say, I'm fuggin' tired. Don't have the tool I need, so I'll have to pick that up tomorrow on my way home from work. Gonna call it a night...throw a frozen pizza in the oven & try to get a minute or two of sleep before my alarm goes off again.

Hell, that's only 10x's what I paid for my Mack...🤑🤑🤑 Just the excise taxes alone on that Petercar exceeds the out-the-door price I paid.🙃

So we got new tires for the Suburban. Went to 10 ply LT305/70R16 on the truck and an LT235/85R16 spare. It had LT285/75R16's on it, but the rims were a little too wide & I didn't care much for the way they looked...and the spare *may* have been the original that came with the truck back in 1990. I didn't trust it because of that fact, so I also carried one of the tires from my F250 (which is OOS waiting for me to replace the timing cover gasket...I just need to acquire one of those rare round tuits) in the back just in case. When we arrived at the WalMart, I dug the actual spare tire out of the hole it's in, and placed it in the rear passenger side seat (which was folded down) to make it easy for them to get to. I told them 4 times where it was, and that it would be easy to get at. Drop off the keys, take the kids to lunch, come back & do a little shopping...then I get the text saying they're done. Awesome. Go to pay the bill & they charged me again for the spare tire which had already been paid for. Easy enough to fix...just frustrating. Walk outside & those new tires look good...fit the rim MUCH better than the old ones. Open up the rear passenger side door to have a look at the spare...and it's the same old-ass tire that was on there when I got there.😡 I open the very back up and see the new spare had been forced onto a rim that was way too wide for a 235...and my 285/75R16 BFG TA/KO missing & everything I had in the back tossed to the other side & down into the hole the spare tire is supposed to go into.💥 Apparently it was so bad, they went inside & found my wife...and told her "Your husband is REALLY pissed off!" She already knew...I had called her what had happened...so her reply? "What did you expect?"🤷‍♂️ I love my wife.😎

I just gassed up my little Ford Ranger for 3.09 & thought that was a little steep...

Well, if they have students who think they're cats, I understand not wanting a parent bringing a service dog to the school. Everybody knows cats & dogs don't get along, and the last thing they need are their students (who think they're cats) being chased down the hall by a dog. Even if the dog IS well-trained and DOESN'T give chase, it might tramatize these snowflakes who thought their life was in danger just through the mere presence of the critter that's supposed to be their best friend (if they were human) but is actually their mortal enemy since they identify as cats.🤦‍♂️ This sure ain't the world I grew up in...

😂

You see, that's the problem. NOBODY should have to "prove he is innocent". Our justice system is supposed to presume you are innocent until you are proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. If you're a prominant democrat, a mountain of evidence is no cause for indictment because "no reasonable prosecutor would take the case"...which immediately labels any prosecutor inclined to take up the case where guilt is obvious as "unreasonable". Meanwhile, if you're a republican the statute of limitations for the misdemeanors you may have committed means nothing & the partisan prosecutors who campaigned on "getting you" will stretch & contort the law to the point it would impress Mary Lou Retton. There is no precedent for any of the charges, and I wouldn't trust my mother-in-law's cat on ice as thin as this case is against Trump...and I hate that stupid cat. The ONLY reason it probably won't get tossed immediately is because the judge hearing the case is just as anti-Trump as the prosecutor. This won't even have the most remote appearance of a "fair" trial.

They put all of the letters of the alphabet into a hat & started drawing 'em... "C, eh?" "N, eh?" "D, eh?" 😂

You know how Canada got it's name?🤔

Back in my college days, a 6-pack used to last me about 30-45 minutes. Now, if I buy a 6-pack I'll have beer in my fridge for 2-3 years.🤦‍♂️

I'm not saying they won't be bought...just that the guys buying 'em for the women in their lives are playing with dynamite. It might just be safer to get a job as the cameraman for an Alec Baldwin movie.😱

ROTFLMFAO! I don't know who's idea these were or how they ended up in actual production...but I'd exercise EXTREME caution in giving them to any woman you aren't trying to break things off with...😂 https://www.montanasilversmiths.com/er5224 Him: "I got these earrings for you!"😍 Her: "WTF! You think I look like a COW? That I should have my ears tagged like a HEIFFER?"😤💥 Him: 😬🤦‍♂️💀 Cow-tag shaped earrings. 😂😂😂

T Nope. The only qualifications for President are found in Article 2 Section 1 Clause 5: Natural born citizen of the US, at least 35 years of age, and a resident within the US for 14 years. The only restrictions are in the 22nd Amendment (can only serve 2 terms). Article 2 Section 4 allows for removal upon impeachment AND conviction...but even that doesn't specify that it would disqualify from future eligibility. If the people want to reelect someone the congress has removed from office, that should be the right of the people to do.