Almost every tire shop resells tires from distributors. There's no real fixed pricing. Sometimes, manufacturers or wholesalers may "push" certain brands, styles, and sizes with discounting and rebates. Sometimes a distributor may offer discounts to resellers in order to move stale stock. Let's assume that you need whatever tire size, and you go to several different tire shops. Unless they happen to have it sitting in the shop, they are all going to call the same handful of distributors to get pricing and availability. Then they try to resell the tires to you, at whatever mark-up that they need in order to make it profitable. No matter who sells and installs the tires, it's coming from the same warehouse. I hate tire shopping. All of the stores have some sort of sale, which is a scam to get you in the store. They advertise coupons like "$100 off" or "buy 3 get 1 free". But at the end of the day, the "out the door" price is usually higher after they "apply" their coupon.




I looked online and this smog shop advertised a coupon price. I get to the shop, and the service writer said that in order to get that advertised price, I had to have a print out of the coupon and an appointment. I asked this guy, "so you want me to go back home, print the coupon, then call you?". Yes. That was how their promotion "worked". My car is parked on your lot, right now, and you don't want the business. If I walk out the door now, I'm never coming back. Ever. Does the owner of the shop know that his employees are turning business away?

I can go to any smog shop. And they all advertise some sort of "discount". There's no real sale or discount for smog checks. It's whatever price they make up, that they think they can get away with. You can drive up and down any major commercial street, in any city, and see shops with big signs that offer "specials" for oil changes, smog checks, brakes, etc. The modern smog check is plugging the computer into the car, and then getting coffee and having a cigarette. They don't do any real work. It's done in 10 minutes. Then they print out whatever paperwork that you are suppose to have for your "certificate". Which isn't real anymore, because the smog check computer has already entered the information into The DMV database and you can get a registration sticker from a machine at Safeway.

 

I remember a class I took, where the instructor mentioned that there were "stereotypes" for fire investigation. Fires are usually accidental, mechanical defect, or arson. Someone could fall asleep with a cigarette, which is less common today because of fire retardants used in textiles. Your pants or sofa will not ignite and flare up from a cigarette. You leave something on the stove and forget. Grease buildup in a grease trap. Then there are things like down power lines, a muffler backfiring, leaking gas lines, or someone storing combustibles too close to a pilot light. Extremely uncommon is kids playing with matches.


But there are only two types of arsonist. Those who are doing it for financial gain. And those who do it for personal gratification. They want to see it burn. They get a kick out of all the attention in the media. And it's really odd how many firefighters that they arrest for setting wildland fires. There's a strange psychology.

 

If I can get a wrench with 2 sizes, that means that I can carry twice as many wrenches, by carrying half as many wrenches. On a bicycle or motorcycle, with a little handlebar bag, that makes a big difference. In your pickup, you can carry a big tool box.

Double sized wrenches are just not easily found. Unless you buy flare nut wrenches, which are actually better - and more expensive. They will sell you 3 wrenches, with 6 wrench sizes, for $10 - $20. But if you want 6 wrenches, with 12 wrench sizes, it could run over $50. That's really expensive for wrenches. Only "what's it worth to you"? When you're on the side of the road, in the middle of the night, and it's raining........ you would pay anything for a better tool.

I have more tools than I need. I don't need any more tools.

Or maybe not.

I thought that I had every wrench I needed. Then all of a sudden, I discovered that my "full set" of wrenches in a nice roll, did not have an 18mm. So much for "full set". No set is a "full set".

I'm always on the lookout for something better. Whether it's something more efficient, or with a better design. I'm currently trying to streamline the tools I carry on my bicycle and my motorcycle. Trying to make it more efficient in case I do need to fix anything on the road. Not rebuilding an engine. But sometimes you need to tighten down a fastener, or change out a part.


I have Allen keys in a roll, in T-Handle sets, in folding pocketknife style.......... and I just bought more. A set with a plastic handle attachment, which locks in a basic Allen key. Why? Those little Allen keys don't have much leverage or torque. The little folding pocketknife style sets seem to skip sizes. The socket and bit style sets often skip sizes and I would need to carry a driver or ratchet handle. I can't stuff a full set of T-Handles into a bicycle bag. This sort of bridges the gap. Maybe it's overkill.

 

Happy Monday Nor-Cal.

Jim

 

By request of nieces and nephews, we are having tri tip again. The kids asked their parents for grandpa's beef. They think my dad is the one who cooks it. Actually, nobody deserves any credit. It goes in the oven. That's it. No real work involved. The oven gets the credit.

 

It's always interesting to see stuff getting cooked in an oven. I've never cooked meat in an oven. The Ex used to cook bacon in there, and I use my toaster oven from time to time to heat up salami and cheese sandwiches, but that's about it.

 

Me either
Post the reciepe , time etc . fifty150

 

Looks great btw!

 

I use a cast iron grill pan. Cast iron makes a difference.




Preheat the oven to 500 degrees, or or hot as your oven will get, with the cast iron pan on the center rack.


You can use whatever seasoning spice rub that you like. I use kosher rock salt and coarse ground pepper.


Put the tri tip on the hot cast iron pan. Place in center of the oven.

Turn off oven after 12 minutes. I am estimating 4 minutes a pound, for a 3 pound piece of meat. Tri Tip is usually about 3 to 4 lbs, and sometimes you trim it. This is the tricky part. Depending on your oven, it could take more or less time. If you have a very hot convection or "turbo" oven blowing the hot air around, you may only need about 10 minutes. If you have an older oven, which may not be as accurate, and the door seals don't seal very well - you may need 15 minutes. If you like the meat more red than pink, then you may want to try 10 minutes. Jim likes well done - so maybe 15 minutes.

If you don't have cast iron, you can cook it in a roasting pan with a rack. This does not have the heat retention of cast iron, so the baseline is around 15 minutes for medium, and maybe 20 minutes for well done.

Once you've done it 2 or 3 times, you'll discover what time works best in your oven.


Do nothing else. Do not open the oven door. The heat trapped in the oven will continue to cook the meat. Wait at least an hour. Maybe even 90 minutes. The meat will finish cooking and then "rest" so that you don't lose all of the juices when slicing.

That's it. Slice it against the grain. Slice it thin if you like. Or slice it into steaks.

Tri Tip is on sale through tomorrow.




Cast iron griddle pans can be found for different prices. I've got different brands, and I can't tell the difference. They all work the same. Maybe the premium brand is Lodge, Made In USA. But even the cheapest pan will work exactly the same once it's seasoned. I would say that buying the cheapest one that you can find will work. The pan I'm using for Tri Tip is $15 from Kohl's. It's just the right size for 2 tri tips, and is deep enough to catch all of the drippings.

 

Cup of noodles for me tonight. 90 seconds in the microwave and it is done. I usually wait a few minutes before picking it up though as I don't want to burn my fingers. (Ask me how I know this LOL)

Jim

 

Prime Rib has the bone in and is a much larger pieces of meat, so the math is 5 minutes per pound.

Tri Tip is much smaller, and does not have a bone, so my math is 4 minutes per pound.

















Now what to do with all of that beef?

You Tube

 

You're not suppose to microwave Cup Noodles.

 

Thanks for the tip buddy

Jim, dude you have to eat better, you even work at a food bank, jeeesh

 

Jim, go get a tri tip. Ask your caregiver to put it in the oven. You will be eating well all week.

 

The food giveaway is once a month. Mostly pantry items.
The Cup of Noodles I have says it can be microwaved. Next time I have them (I have three cups left) I will take a photo of the lid.
I had chicken nuggets, and apricots, and raisins for lunch along with hash browns. The caregiver cooked them.

Jim