We've all seen on network television expose's on auto repair shops, and their taking advantage of the unknowing consumer, by recommending repairs that are not necessary or even warranted. The latest one that I saw was where the investigators equipped an auto with hidden cameras in every location possible, and took the vehicle to various repair places only to have the repair facilities tell them they needed the transmission fluid changed, and they had a machine called a T-TEC machine which would remove the old fluid and replace it with new transmission fluid.
Unfortunately even though the customer's paid for the T-TEC service, the hidden cameras showed the machine was never even connected to the car and the service was never done. And so it goes, repair shops have a direct input to their impeccable reputations, by taking good care of their customers. However, not all repair shops are like that, and though it is hard to find the good ones they are out there, if you take the me to look for them.
Today consumers have many options to put a little knowledge in their pocket when they go in for auto repairs. With the advantage of the internet they can go to different web sites where there are forums that let one talk with people who have the same vehicle as themselves, and share symptoms and possible solutions to their problems. A lot of these web sites are run by the auto manufacturer themselves. Also, a lot of times a mechanic will be the one answering their questions, and making recommendations as to what they think the problem might be.
The consumer can get info on what the problem might be, how long to fix it, and how much they can expect to pay. They can then go to sites like YOUTUBE.COM enter this information into the search window and view a video addressing their issue or problem and even watch the repair being made.
Now remember, armed with all of this information at their disposal, the consumer is well equipped to talk intelligently with a repair shop to get the proper repairs. And today, this is what happened and how fast I left the repair facility.
All I wanted was a new set of all season radial tires for my truck. Just two for the back, as the ones I had on had a lot of miles on them and I noticed that they were not biting into the snow as I expected them to do. This was causing a lot of slippage that made me uncomfortable. The tires on the front were new in the last month or so, so all I needed were two on the back.
A few months ago when I was searching for tires, I stopped into a brand name repair shop, close to home, and was quoted 93.00 per tire for an All Season Radial tire. This price included installation, balancing but no old tire disposal or sales taxes. When I walked into the same shop today, the person behind the counter was waiting on someone else. As I listened to the conversation the employee told the customer that she was at 103,000 miles and needed her timing belt changed. She said OK but when she got her next check. I did not get the impression that she had a lot of money because she stated she'd have 160 hours on her next check and she'd be able to get it done then. It was stated that this would be the third time they changed the timing belt according to mfr. recommendations. She was there for an oil change and that fee was 41.00, which I suppose at todays rates is not unreasonable, and I am not sure whether this was synthetic or not. I was just listening.....
When she left and it was now my turn, I gave him the dimensions for the tire and he printed out a sheet with three choices. The least expensive was 143.00 per tire. This was certainly OK for the brand of tires on the sheet, all top brands, but conspicuously missing was the tire brand for the shop I was at. INTERESTING....Because in my investigation the brand of tire that was the name of the shop was much cheaper when looking on the internet for similar tires. I am sure the guy did not remember me from coming in before. So I asked him how much he would charge to change an actuator on my four wheel drive transfer case. I also asked him if they could check the voltages going to the actuator to make sure the wiring to it was OK. This is because I am having trouble getting my truck into four wheel drive. My research says it is a part called an "actuator" or the wiring leading up to the actuator.
Now an actuator costs about 67.00 as an after market part for my truck, but that is one made over seas and I want one made here in the US. An original equipment manufactured (OEM), one from the MFR that puts them into GM cars, is about $150.00 or so. The time it takes to replace one is about 1/2 hour. 15 minutes to change it and another 15 minutes to put the truck up and down on the rack.
So their response was "Which actuator? There are two on the General Motors transfer case?" "We change them quite frequently on GM Pick-ups" I told them there was only one on my vehicle, and it was made of plastic, and was operated by the dashboard switch, that's why the wiring and voltages neede to be checked first. So they looked it up in their service APP......"He's right, there is only one on that truck, and it takes a half hour to change it." "How much would that cost?" I said. "$330.00 with an General Motors Original Equipment Manufacturer part". (Now how would you check if you got the cheap one or the good one?) By my calculations for that repair their hourly rate is about three hundred dollars an hour......There is NO repair shop anywhere that can command that kind of hourly rate. I thanked them, said I'd think about it, and let them know on the actuator and the tires. But really, I couldn't wait to get the heck out of there.
Now I certainly can do this job myself. I have the volt meter to check the voltages, and I can change the actuator if need be, but I don't relish doing it on my back, in the winter, and on the cold garage floor. Lets face it, I am getting old. So I'll just have to have it done by someone else......but by someone whom I trust for sure. The moral here......do your homework, and work with someone whom you feel comfortable with and someone you can trust.
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
Monday, December 15, 2014
Intelectual Property, What Do You Really Own?
Recently in the news media was a story about the hacking incident of Sony Pictures. It seems their computers were hacked and at least five movies were stolen and distributed free of charge. On addition to that private emails we also stolen and the distributed to the media who has published and made comment on their contents. A few of these emails contained some pretty embarrassing comments from executives who made some pretty disparaging remarks about some well known celebrities.
With those disclosures this morning lawyers from Sony Pictures sent cease and desist letters to three major media outlets stating that they were prohibited from making comment, posting comment, etc. because the material in their possession is stolen. With that in mind, it is a very interesting argument for certain.
Just as it it illegal and against the law, and we would not allow a person to break into our home or business and take its contents and our personal property to then give the same to someone else, are the contents our our computers similar property? In my opinion, if it matters, is YES, most certainly. And here is my argument as to why.
If I take a concept from MY mind or a thought or idea, and put it down on paper and publish it, I most certainly own it and no one is allowed to profit from it with out my permission. So to, when I write an email to someone else, and send it to them, then I also own that too. The fact that I shared it with someone, does not relinquish ownership. Here is an example: I write an article to be sold and published in a magazine, there is no question as to ownership, until it is sold and ownership passes from me to the magazine. But the fact that I take the same article and send it to my editor for editorial correction or comment, does not pass the ownership from me to the editor. So true is the email I send to a recipient. The ownership is still mine, and does not pass from one to another.
So when the hacker comes into my computer system and steals my material or in the case in point, Sony Pictures, that hacker is in possession of STOLEN material and should be prosecuted for the theft. I am sure that in today's technological world there are many State and Federal laws that cover this. So what about when the hacker puts it out there on a website? Does that give anyone the legal write to take the information and re-publish it? Once they take the information are they in receipt of stolen goods? I would think so. I would also think that these media outlets would also understand that the same is true for them too. Should that hacker get into their computer systems and publish sensitive information, I am sure they would not be too happy about it.
With those disclosures this morning lawyers from Sony Pictures sent cease and desist letters to three major media outlets stating that they were prohibited from making comment, posting comment, etc. because the material in their possession is stolen. With that in mind, it is a very interesting argument for certain.
Just as it it illegal and against the law, and we would not allow a person to break into our home or business and take its contents and our personal property to then give the same to someone else, are the contents our our computers similar property? In my opinion, if it matters, is YES, most certainly. And here is my argument as to why.
If I take a concept from MY mind or a thought or idea, and put it down on paper and publish it, I most certainly own it and no one is allowed to profit from it with out my permission. So to, when I write an email to someone else, and send it to them, then I also own that too. The fact that I shared it with someone, does not relinquish ownership. Here is an example: I write an article to be sold and published in a magazine, there is no question as to ownership, until it is sold and ownership passes from me to the magazine. But the fact that I take the same article and send it to my editor for editorial correction or comment, does not pass the ownership from me to the editor. So true is the email I send to a recipient. The ownership is still mine, and does not pass from one to another.
So when the hacker comes into my computer system and steals my material or in the case in point, Sony Pictures, that hacker is in possession of STOLEN material and should be prosecuted for the theft. I am sure that in today's technological world there are many State and Federal laws that cover this. So what about when the hacker puts it out there on a website? Does that give anyone the legal write to take the information and re-publish it? Once they take the information are they in receipt of stolen goods? I would think so. I would also think that these media outlets would also understand that the same is true for them too. Should that hacker get into their computer systems and publish sensitive information, I am sure they would not be too happy about it.
Monday, December 1, 2014
The Sledders Bible a new book on snowmobiling.
Well another project bites the dust. I recently finished my latest literary work titled "The Sledders Bible. I have been snowmobiling for many years, all the way back to 1970 when I got my first snowmobile a 1968 Chapparel 440, a low to the ground and very fast sled. This was quickly followed by a 1969 Ski-Doo Nordic model, much less powerful, but it was a two up, and I had a family of four. So here I was with a wife and two kids and two snowmobiles to ride on, enjoying the winter.
In order that we could all go out together, I enlisted the help an old farmer that lived nearby. His name was Wally Marquedt. Wally was an old school craftsman. He built things by hand the old school way. Wally made for us a tow behind sled, kind of like a long dog sled, completely out of oak, so we could put the kids in it, cover them with blankets, and take them every where we went. The two of them were about three and four years old at the time.
The winters were very cold, and the old sleds did not have heated thumb grips or hand warmers on the handle bars like we have today. Snowmobile suits were one piece, and gloves were simply that, gloves. Snowmobile boots, not very well, as far as protection from the cold. I usually wore my Chippewa waterproof hunting boots. Helmets were usually motorcycle helmets equipped with a snap on full face clear plastic shield. If you were fancy, you could get one tinted yellow to help with the sun. Pocket warmers were filled with lighter fluid, lit, and carried around your kidneys in a belt contraption. But they were not reliable and the pouches we know of today were not invented yet. So riding out on the primitive trails for extended periods of time were almost non existent. Short rides, frequent stops usually at a local bar.
When I first hooked up that dog type sled to the back of the Nordic, and put the kids in it and covered them up with a mountain of blankets and took off down the frozen river, I could hear over the roar of the engine the two of them yelling and screaming for me to stop, which I immediately did. When I turned around and looked back at them I could see the entire sled completely filled with snow. They were covered from head to toe. Well, it seems that I did not have a snow flap on the snowmobile hanging over the back covering the track, and as the track picked up the snow it completely buried them.......I never heard the end of that one.....
My first ride on a snowmobile was in the winter of 1969 in Lynn Massachusetts, when we were snowed in after a terrific snowstorm. We got two feet of snow the first day and it was followed with another two feet the next. The power was out, and there was no heat. I had my car parked under a sort of lean too. It took me about four hours to shovel. I started at the road and shoveled back towards the car. Snow had entered into the edge of where the car was parked as there were no doors on the opening of the covering. So I had to shovel out around the car too.
Once I did that, I started the car up and tried to back up, but it would not budge. I got out to look at what the problem was, hindering its movement, only to discover I had two flat rear tires. We were not going anywhere......and to make matters worse, there was no heat, no electric, and my wife was seven months pregnant at the time. The tires were flattened because of the cold and the expansion and contraction of the wheel rims and the seals breaking.
We were living on Sluice Pond, in Lynn Massachusetts at the time. We were both cold and did not know what to do. The snow was so bad that Buffalo NY sent in crews with heavy front end loaders to help clear the streets. The General Electric company was hiring people at $4.00 per hour (good money for me at the time, as I was only making $1.80 an hour at my real job, working in a hardware store) to shovel off the roofs of their buildings. At about ten AM a neighbor came over to our house on his double track, one ski in the front, Ski-Doo Elan, and transported us over to his home to get some warmth. He was my wife's boss at the time, and his home had a fireplace and so we could get warm. He owned a construction company and hired me n the spot to work the GE roofs. It was during that first ride across the lake, that got me hooked on the sport, and except for a fifteen year hiatus, I have been snowmobiling ever since.
So with all that experience, both good and bad, and living up here in the Northwoods of Wisconsin, the snowmobile capital of the world, I got involved with two snowmobile clubs, got a new machine, quickly got a second one, and picked right up where I had left off. But one of the things I noticed, while volunteering at a snowmobile safety class, was that there was not any comprehensive snowmobiling guide for newcomers to the sport that would prepare them for what they were getting in to. There was a booklet the students got during the course, but it mostly covered safety and not experiences, or survival techniques. So I decided to write one of my own and make it available to the masses. It is called the Sledders Bible and it contains most everything I know about the sport of snowmobiling, and I am passing this valuable information along to the readers.
I wrote this book with the intent that anyone who reads it cover to cover would know all of the practical aspects of what can and will happen when they're out on the trails. It contains information on how to survive if stranded, what tools to take with you, the history of the sport and many many other valuable insights, lessons and anecdotes, that you can use to keep you safe and well when you are out there, which allows you to have more fun. Portions of the proceeds of the sale of each copy will be given to the Soldiers on Sleds project. The book is available through Amazon, Kindle, Barnes and Nobel Books, Google Books and from the publisher Lulu.com. The cost is 19.95. It is also available for downloading directly to your tablet, laptop or PC. So get your copy today. You will not be disappointed..... ISBN978-1-312-61248-8
In order that we could all go out together, I enlisted the help an old farmer that lived nearby. His name was Wally Marquedt. Wally was an old school craftsman. He built things by hand the old school way. Wally made for us a tow behind sled, kind of like a long dog sled, completely out of oak, so we could put the kids in it, cover them with blankets, and take them every where we went. The two of them were about three and four years old at the time.
The winters were very cold, and the old sleds did not have heated thumb grips or hand warmers on the handle bars like we have today. Snowmobile suits were one piece, and gloves were simply that, gloves. Snowmobile boots, not very well, as far as protection from the cold. I usually wore my Chippewa waterproof hunting boots. Helmets were usually motorcycle helmets equipped with a snap on full face clear plastic shield. If you were fancy, you could get one tinted yellow to help with the sun. Pocket warmers were filled with lighter fluid, lit, and carried around your kidneys in a belt contraption. But they were not reliable and the pouches we know of today were not invented yet. So riding out on the primitive trails for extended periods of time were almost non existent. Short rides, frequent stops usually at a local bar.
When I first hooked up that dog type sled to the back of the Nordic, and put the kids in it and covered them up with a mountain of blankets and took off down the frozen river, I could hear over the roar of the engine the two of them yelling and screaming for me to stop, which I immediately did. When I turned around and looked back at them I could see the entire sled completely filled with snow. They were covered from head to toe. Well, it seems that I did not have a snow flap on the snowmobile hanging over the back covering the track, and as the track picked up the snow it completely buried them.......I never heard the end of that one.....
My first ride on a snowmobile was in the winter of 1969 in Lynn Massachusetts, when we were snowed in after a terrific snowstorm. We got two feet of snow the first day and it was followed with another two feet the next. The power was out, and there was no heat. I had my car parked under a sort of lean too. It took me about four hours to shovel. I started at the road and shoveled back towards the car. Snow had entered into the edge of where the car was parked as there were no doors on the opening of the covering. So I had to shovel out around the car too.
Once I did that, I started the car up and tried to back up, but it would not budge. I got out to look at what the problem was, hindering its movement, only to discover I had two flat rear tires. We were not going anywhere......and to make matters worse, there was no heat, no electric, and my wife was seven months pregnant at the time. The tires were flattened because of the cold and the expansion and contraction of the wheel rims and the seals breaking.
We were living on Sluice Pond, in Lynn Massachusetts at the time. We were both cold and did not know what to do. The snow was so bad that Buffalo NY sent in crews with heavy front end loaders to help clear the streets. The General Electric company was hiring people at $4.00 per hour (good money for me at the time, as I was only making $1.80 an hour at my real job, working in a hardware store) to shovel off the roofs of their buildings. At about ten AM a neighbor came over to our house on his double track, one ski in the front, Ski-Doo Elan, and transported us over to his home to get some warmth. He was my wife's boss at the time, and his home had a fireplace and so we could get warm. He owned a construction company and hired me n the spot to work the GE roofs. It was during that first ride across the lake, that got me hooked on the sport, and except for a fifteen year hiatus, I have been snowmobiling ever since.
So with all that experience, both good and bad, and living up here in the Northwoods of Wisconsin, the snowmobile capital of the world, I got involved with two snowmobile clubs, got a new machine, quickly got a second one, and picked right up where I had left off. But one of the things I noticed, while volunteering at a snowmobile safety class, was that there was not any comprehensive snowmobiling guide for newcomers to the sport that would prepare them for what they were getting in to. There was a booklet the students got during the course, but it mostly covered safety and not experiences, or survival techniques. So I decided to write one of my own and make it available to the masses. It is called the Sledders Bible and it contains most everything I know about the sport of snowmobiling, and I am passing this valuable information along to the readers.
I wrote this book with the intent that anyone who reads it cover to cover would know all of the practical aspects of what can and will happen when they're out on the trails. It contains information on how to survive if stranded, what tools to take with you, the history of the sport and many many other valuable insights, lessons and anecdotes, that you can use to keep you safe and well when you are out there, which allows you to have more fun. Portions of the proceeds of the sale of each copy will be given to the Soldiers on Sleds project. The book is available through Amazon, Kindle, Barnes and Nobel Books, Google Books and from the publisher Lulu.com. The cost is 19.95. It is also available for downloading directly to your tablet, laptop or PC. So get your copy today. You will not be disappointed..... ISBN978-1-312-61248-8
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