We're NOT a plumbing supply

So... Fridays are slow. Like, "stand around and play on your phone" slow. 

Guy walks in, doesn't seem to speak English. Hands me a part: the handle and flush arm from a toilet. And just stands there, looking at me.

My brother Knuckles walks away, shaking his head: he had seen what was in the guy's hand, and wanted nothing to do with it.

I ask the guy what the part is from. I recognized what it was, but wanted to give the guy a chance. He just kept staring at me. I said "This is from a toilet"... he nods. The rest of the crew is now staring, trying not to laugh.

"Sir... we're an auto parts store, not a plumbing supply". Dude just keeps staring.

Some people

Ocean oil

So... not one of our customers, but via one of the local shops.

Girl comes in to get some work done. Complaining that the last shop put "ocean oil" in her car, because she can hear it "whooshing around".

Further complaint that the wheels are somehow connected to the engine: she presses the gas and the wheels turn, even when she puts it in reverse.

Shop owner was rolling, telling us about this. To be honest, I'm just flabbergasted that she can drive.

Stay classy, Wisconsin!

cast of character

Occurs to me I should give y'all the cast of characters at the parts counter...

First off, we have Jess. Lovely girl, several kids, very knowledgeable. She's the leader if our merry band (store GM).

Then there's Abe. Commercial manager, and kinda Jess' right hand. Mexican guy, expert on detailing, and my direct boss. Good guy

Two more managers, Jordan and Alex. Both younger guys, and knowledgeable. Alex is multilingual (and has saved me more than once), Jordan is a gun nut. 

Then the peons. There's the other driver, Kaw Liga. Dale, the resident Old Guy. Phoebe, whose father works at a sister store. And myself.

Not gonna mention the couple weekend guys, as I don't work with them.

There... y'all have the cast for TftPC

Tales from the Parts Counter

As I stated last night, I've been working at a local auto parts store. To say that some of our customers are... interesting, would be an understatement. So I figured I would share some of them with you.

This won't be a regular feature, but one that will pop up when I get a particularly humorous one.

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So, I was in my first week. I'm standing behind the store manager, Jess, and the customer is looking for a battery for his new bike. I ask what he got, and he answers "Got myself a steal! $7K, for a nice HD Sportster Softail"

My brain immediately checks out for a smoke.

Jess does her best to find him a battery, and sends him on his way. Then she turns to me and asks "What's wrong?".

Ok, so she doesn't know bikes. I explained it to her this way: "Dude just asked for a battery for a Ford Focus Fusion"

Hope he didn't fry his new scoot

Repost for the winter

It's that time of year again, to brew up Spiced Tea!

Mom swore by this stuff. In fact, many of the girls I dated met Mom because of it: they'd come over to get dosed when they got sick...

This makes about 2 liters. You want to drink it as hot as you can, as fast as you can. If Mom was serving you, you'ld only get to stop to breathe...

Spiced Tea

1/2 tsp whole cloves
1/2 cinnamon stick
3/4 tsp black tea
1 1/2 qts cold water (6 cups)
1 1/2 cups OJ
3/4 cup lemon juice
3/4 cups sugar

In the first pot, bring water to a boil and remove from heat. Add cinnamon stick. Steep teabag w/ clove for 5 minutes. In a second pot, heat OJ, lemon juice, and sugar. Stir frequentally until sugar is dissolved. Add the contents of the juice mixture to the tea. Serve hot!!!!

I had almost forgotten this thing

So... lots of life changes. Spoon left me (well, ended the relationship, I was the one that had to move). Have been seeing another lady (Dismount, will introduce the 2 of you to her eventually). The two of us bought a house (?!?!).

I'm also currently a powder monkey (won't name the company, but in the next couple months you will probably shoot .223 that I loaded), and also a delivery driver at an auto parts store (that pays the mortgage).

Still with BACA. Still ride and shoot. Had reason to dig into Law Dog's blog, and got reminded that this was helping me some. So... I'm back!

Not sure what form or frequency my posting will be. That'll all come out in the shakedown cruise

Administrivia

Going back through previous posts, and I realize that Photobucket has decided that I have to pay for my pic hosting

Gonna go see if there's something better

This thing on?

Well, life got in the way again. But I'm back for a spell

Been noticing talk around the net, folks agitating for a fight. Left v Right, winner take all

That... isn't how it's going to happen.

What I see, peering into the foggy depths of my crystal ball is certain actors on the Far Left, who think they're Billy Badass, causing enough of a disturbance that a (so far) quiet segment of the Right and Center decide that the Social Contract has been voided. The people I'm thinking of contain a large number of veterans, and people that have learned a wide variety of ways of creating mayhem. And the only thing keeping them in check is the belief in that Social Contract.

 Not sure what the kick-off issue will be. Could be a Trump re-election. Maybe a gun control protest. Midterms don't go the way Antifa and their allies want. But when it happens, the backlash will be ugly... and catestrophic

 Neither side is really "pure" on their ideology, and it won't take long before these differences start to cause rifts. What starts as "Left v Right" will quickly turn into the end scene of Reservoir Dogs: everyone pointing their guns at everyone else, temporary alliances between this group and that dissolving as quickly as they're created.

Now, I could be wrong (gawds, but I hope so). My crystal ball was a cheap purchase at a discount store, and can always be misleading. But looking around, and listening to folks, it certainly looks like we're headed for disaster

Product review: Coulax V4.1 bluetooth stereo headset

So... might be time to dust this thing off again (HOW many times has this been done?)

So anyway... was contacted about doing a review through the Android Forums. Good piece of gear to look into!

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Coulax V4.1 Bluetooth Headset

I recently received one of these headsets for review, and have to admit that I'm impressed. For some background, I use my headset when riding, doing maintainence at a local hotel, working out. And I use one side for calls when driving. My previous setup was an LG HBS-700

Comparing the two, battery life is a horse apiece: I tend to charge my electronics every night out of habit, so I didn't notice too much of a difference there. Did manage to run the V4.1 for a couple days without charging, and never had a problem. Call quality was good throughout. On par for working out, as well, and working at the hotel.

Where the V4.1 pulled ahead was at the hotel and on the bike. Mowing lawns and riding have always been problematic for me, as it gets VERY hard to hear the LG when on the mower or at speed on the bike. The V4.1 had no such troubles: even on my Sportster at 70mph (running straight pipes and no windshield), I could still hear my tunes perfectly clearly, whereas the LG became nothing more than a poor set of ear plugs.

Also give a slight advantage to the V4.1 on design: the buds are connected by a wire, with just a small control box near the right side. The advantage here was in working out: the band connector of the LG would tend to slide around while at the gym, and the V4.1 simply didn't have the extra weight being thrown around (and pulling the buds out of my ears). This eliminated a LOT of frustration!

Controls, I give a slight (think “hair”) edge to the LG: since you have a much larger piece for controls, you have separate volume and track controls. A very minor difference, as getting used to the V4.1's controls wasn't difficult at all.

Priced currently at $30 on Amazon (I paid around $80 for the LG), the V4.1 is a deal that's hard to beat this Christmas season!