What Irked You Today?

[charlie8575]

Exactly! I charge nearly everything since I'm a consultant and can expense a lot of my charges, so all my gas goes on the card. Also, with a fill up being $40-60, who wants to carry a lot of cash around?

I did some further web investigating and found a Long Island News Day article that a bunch of stations in that area are pulling that $1 upcharge. There is a NY state law against upcharges, BUT there is no law against discounting a product for cash. The article says the state investigators cannot determine whether the stations are upcharging, or discounting, so they haven't been able to prosecute (DUH!). Governor Cuomo was quoted as saying about a third of gas stations on Long Island are involved in deceptive practices. Great place!

I love going to LIARS, and I don't mind driving my friend down to see his honey-bunch in Selden, but stuff like this is one more reason I have zero interest in moving to Long Island.

Charlie Larkin

[Chuck Most]

Bats irked me today.

Well not so much the bats, or the fact that in the last 24 hours I've caught two of them flying around in circles in one room or another of the house, but the fact that I can't seem to find where they're coming in. Chimney is ruled out- that's sealed off after I had a minor fire in December, and I don't see how they can wiggle through the grates over the vents, unless a bat can squeeze through a hole that's only about a quarter inch wide. They certainly aren't getting into the house by any obvious means.

That, and the right front caliper on my pickup gave out. What irks me about that is that it's only about three years old, while the factory 1994 caliper on the other side still works just fine. I only replaced this one because I stripped out the thread for the bleeder screw when I was changing out a brake line.

Edited June 5, 2014 by Chuck Most

[Chuck Most]

As far as places that don't take cards in the 21st century... I go there exactly once. And when I find out they don't take cards I give them an earfull and let them know I'll never be back. I can't imagine being so business stupid. Idiots don't understand how much business they have lost over that 3% fee. They've lost much more!

I take it you don't frequent too many "gentlemen's clubs", don't you?

There's one place where cash is still king.

Not that I'd know firsthand. A buddy told me. Yeah...

[martinfan5]

Bats irked me today.

Well not so much the bats, or the fact that in the last 24 hours I've caught two of them flying around in circles in one room or another of the house, but the fact that I can't seem to find where they're coming in. Chimney is ruled out- that's sealed off after I had a minor fire in December, and I don't see how they can wiggle through the grates over the vents, unless a bat can squeeze through a hole that's only about a quarter inch wide. They certainly aren't getting into the house by any obvious means.

That, and the right front caliper on my pickup gave out. What irks me about that is that it's only about three years old, while the factory 1994 caliper on the other side still works just fine. I only replaced this one because I stripped out the thread for the bleeder screw when I was changing out a brake line.

Did you call Batman for help

[Chuck Most]

Did you call Batman for help

You mean Bruce Wayne? Yeah- but he's apparently too busy being a millionaire playboy and/or caped vigilante to return my calls...

[martinfan5]

You mean Bruce Wayne? Yeah- but he's apparently too busy being a millionaire playboy and/or caped vigilante to return my calls...

Yes, Bruce Wayne

:lol:

[disabled modeler]

Watching a guy toss a bunch of old 60s and 70s era kits in a trash hopper...I ask if he would like to sell them but got no reply as he tossed a big batch of very heavy things on top and locked it...

[Harry P.]

Bats irked me today.

Well not so much the bats, or the fact that in the last 24 hours I've caught two of them flying around in circles in one room or another of the house, but the fact that I can't seem to find where they're coming in.

Check the perimeter of the house for rotted sills, especially under porches. Do you have screens on all your windows? If not, maybe you left a window open, that's another possibility. Does the house have an attic with an opening to the rest of the house? Might have a section of the soffit board rotted out or broken. Maybe a missing attic ladder door or one not sealed tightly? Bats don't need a big hole to squeeze through.

[Agent G]

Tom, remember, the biggest money maker ever was run by the Columbo family. It was the gas tax scam in Queens and Long Island back in the '80's. Estimates put it at about $5,000,000 for the family in one year alone. I think one, maybe two guys took a hit, did some time and most of the money was never seen again.

G

[Tom Geiger]

Bats irked me today.

Well not so much the bats, or the fact that in the last 24 hours I've caught two of them flying around in circles in one room or another of the house, but the fact that I can't seem to find where they're coming in. Chimney is ruled out- that's sealed off after I had a minor fire in December, and I don't see how they can wiggle through the grates over the vents, unless a bat can squeeze through a hole that's only about a quarter inch wide. They certainly aren't getting into the house by any obvious means.

Be very careful with bats, it can be a serious thing. They carry critters with them and disease in their excrement. And bats are like roaches, if you see 2 you may have 100s.

A few years ago friends of ours started itching and it was determined that they had bed bugs. They were into every carpet, bed, couch etc in their house. So in the course of exterminating (and throwing out all their carpet and much of their furniture), the exterminator discovered that they had bats in a sealed off area of their attic. The bats hadn't got into their house, but their bugs etc had. Upon opening up that area, there were literally 100s of bats and the whole place had a liberal coating of bat poop, which is where the bugs breed and live. The clean up was bio-hazard and required men in white suits. All the attic insulation had to be removed as well as their bedroom ceiling since the sheet rock was saturated from above. Several thousand dollars spent.

They had never even thought they had bats. Living adjacent to woods they'd see them flying around but never saw them get near the house. The space they got in was minuscule. They found a tiny hole between the siding and soffit. .It all traced back to a neighbor who had a bat house on a tall pole at the back of their property. It fell down during a storm and the bats found a new home... in my friends attic.

So be careful. It may be worth getting an exterminator experience in bats to look around.

[1930fordpickup]

I've never heard of a bank refusing to accept a check from someone who doesn't have an account at that bank. That's very odd.

If they will cash the check, they want to charge a fee, even if I go to the bank the check was written from. The person who wrote the check has an account at the bank , is that not good enough? What are they doing for there own customers ....nothing.

Taking change to banks here is like pulling teeth most do not. Credit Unions still do.

[LDO]

My employer. I requested to get off work early today, so I can pick up something at a freight terminal. I was told yes, but that changed this morning. Now I'm trying to arrange having a friend meet me at the terminal with his pickup and trailer. The whole reason I have to go to the terminal is because work wouldn't let me have it delivered to our shop. It's big enough, we have forklifts and a dock, but the answer was no, because they were afraid my freight might get damaged.

The friend with a pickup and trailer is a field supervisor. He had a bathtub at the shop and management gave him a hard time, for the same reason.

There's a manager at work who keeps his personal trailer in the back lot.

I think I'll look for a new job. Management doesn't seem to understand that EVERYBODY is hiring plumbers these days.

[Danno]

If they will cash the check, they want to charge a fee, even if I go to the bank the check was written from. The person who wrote the check has an account at the bank , is that not good enough? What are they doing for there own customers ....nothing.

Taking change to banks here is like pulling teeth most do not. Credit Unions still do.

Today's banking business model: ANY excuse to charge a fee.

[Pete J.]

Tire companies! I have a car I love, a 1993 MR 2 Turbo. Thing is fast as stink and goes around corners like a go kart. Part of the handling is a direct result of having staggered tires. Problem is they are on 15 inch rims. Little car don't need no donk rims! Well, to make a long story short, every tire manufacture on the planet has decided that the rear tires for this thing are not worth making. Not even anything close. Well that is not entirely true. You can get drag slicks or full on race tires at $800 a pop. So now, I have to go out a pop $1200 for a new set of rims and tires. Had to go +2 to get a decent selection. Now we have to wait to see if they are going to fit. The front tires have very little clearance between the suspension but if I have done my math correctly, they it will clear by 5/8". It didn't have 3/4" clearance to start with. I'm hoping! All this stress because I love a piece of machinery that no one else seems to like.

[Harry P.]

Wouldn't a Toyota dealer be able to get the tires?

[Pete J.]

Wouldn't a Toyota dealer be able to get the tires?

You would think so wouldn't you, but no. I called Toyota and they have no suggestions(too afraid of getting sued). I have gone on line to every place I can think of. It is like the industry is phasing out 15" tires. Granted 225/50 15's performance tires were not that common and most of the MR 2's have been turned into race cars at this point, but not finding anything that I can get a matching setoff front and rears is a bit annoying. Even the MR2 forums seem to be without ideas.

Edited June 9, 2014 by Pete J.

[Harry P.]

I tried Tirerack.com, just out of curiosity. Even they showed no results in a search!

Man, if Tirerack doesn't have them, nobody does!

[oldnslow]

Tire Rack has Fuzion Grand Touring all season 225/60/15s for $59, maybe an alternative?

[Joe Handley]

You would think so wouldn't you, but no. I called Toyota and they have no suggestions(too afraid of getting sued). I have go on line to every place I can think of. It is like the industry is phasing out 15" tires. Granted 225/50 15's performance tires were not that common and most of the MR 2's have been turned into race cars at this point, but not finding anything that I can get a matching setoff front and rears is a bit annoying. Even the MR2 forums seem to be without ideas.

Wonder what the guys with the Shelby-Dodge/Turbo Dodge stuff do now then, I think a lot of those ran speed rated 225/50r15's, if not from the factory, as an upgrade from stock sizes. I'm kinda wondering how hard it will be to find 235/75r15's for my Jeep before long too.

[charlie8575]

You would think so wouldn't you, but no. I called Toyota and they have no suggestions(too afraid of getting sued). I have go on line to every place I can think of. It is like the industry is phasing out 15" tires. Granted 225/50 15's performance tires were not that common and most of the MR 2's have been turned into race cars at this point, but not finding anything that I can get a matching setoff front and rears is a bit annoying. Even the MR2 forums seem to be without ideas.

I'm starting to have that problem with my car, as well. The P225/75R-15 passenger car tire is becoming very hard to find, at least anything even sort of decent, and man are they getting pricey. An off-brand 40,000 mile tire is going for about $100. I remember a few years ago, you could get decent (60-70,000 mile) tires for that price.

I've seen several of the less-common tire sizes go out of production in recent years- I would think it would be wise to keep the molds on hand, even for special order.

Joe- don't worry too much. So many trucks/SUVs have used 235XLs, that those won't be gone anytime soon. There are literally millions of them.

Pete- I'm not sure if they'd have something, but consider trying Diamondback Classics. Their main product line is radial WWWs, but they do offer a line of slightly-customized performance tires in a variety of sizes that seem to be a bit hard to get.

Charlie Larkin

[charlie8575]

I went to get gas Saturday.

Pre-paid for $70, gave the clerk $80 because it was what I had, and a big difference between cash/credit.

With my discount from one of the local supermarkets, I had 50 cents/gallon off on up to 20 gallons. Cool.

Put in 18 and a nudge gallons. The clerk had rung in $61.98, I ended up taking $58.85.

The signs on the pumps were also advertising cold drinks for 89 cents. Good deal, it was pretty hot out.

So, I went in, and got my Sprite.

The clerk- under orders from her boss, rang it up at $1.05. "You're advertisting 89 cents, even with tax, that's still only 95 cents."

"The owner wants it run at 99 cents and the signs don't matter."

Irritated, and too hot to care, I took it, and the rest of my change, and left.

About five minutes down the road....I realized the dope clerk, possibly because of her boss again, short-changed me.

I went right back.

I did out math.

She looked at the register record. "Well, I pre-paid $61.98, and it that's what it changed on."

"And that amount should have been updated when I stopped pumped at three dollars less than the anticipated amount. Now...does your boss want you short-changing me, too, to enrichen himself as you stated earlier to me, or do I have to call the police?"

I got my change, and reported it to the police.

Because I got my change, they couldn't do anything, but I told the dispatcher what was going on, and to keep an eye on that station and watch for complaints.

I'll be calling the weights/measures inspector tomorrow, and probably Sunoco, too.

Charlie Larkin

[Joe Handley]

I'm starting to have that problem with my car, as well. The P225/75R-15 passenger car tire is becoming very hard to find, at least anything even sort of decent, and man are they getting pricey. An off-brand 40,000 mile tire is going for about $100. I remember a few years ago, you could get decent (60-70,000 mile) tires for that price.

I've seen several of the less-common tire sizes go out of production in recent years- I would think it would be wise to keep the molds on hand, even for special order.

Joe- don't worry too much. So many trucks/SUVs have used 235XLs, that those won't be gone anytime soon. There are literally millions of them.

Pete- I'm not sure if they'd have something, but consider trying Diamondback Classics. Their main product line is radial WWWs, but they do offer a line of slightly-customized performance tires in a variety of sizes that seem to be a bit hard to get.

Charlie Larkin

I'll have to look again Charlie, but I think some of the tire manufacturers are still making all season tires in our sizes, but while I'm using a P-Metric All Terrain on my XJ, you might still be able to find a P-Metric truck tire that is more car like in a similar size. I know Goodyear had more pavement biased light truck tire that was about the size you need a nukber of years ago........the Goodyear dealer goofed up and put them on my truck by accident and didn't realize it until I pointed out to them the tires were wrong in all but manufacturer and size!

[Agent G]

If you saw the news, you know what irked me. More than irked.

I'm numb and sick to my stomach.

G

[Harry P.]

If you saw the news, you know what irked me. More than irked.

I'm numb and sick to my stomach.

G

If you're talking about what I think you're talking about, I'm with you.

[Agent G]

If you're talking about what I think you're talking about, I'm with you.

I am..................

G