Central Scrutinizer Posted June 11, 2002 Report Share Posted June 11, 2002 Under a Full Moon and the Golem Tree--part 8 To All, After a while I left the ladies to their chores and pulled the truck into the yard, close to the hose that is attached to the well pump. I took a rag and some dish detergent and gave the truck a quick wash. I used the funky broom from the kitchen to sweep out the gathered red mud and dust from the passenger compartment, and swept out the bed of the truck.....the other passenger compartment. I grabbed some Windex and paper towels and did the windshield, wiping down the dashboard and inside door panels and such. I try to take care of the vehicles I rent or borrow while there, and usually return them to the owner in better condition than I received them. I nearly always need to buy a new cloth padded steering wheel cover each time, as the old ones are so filthy and saturated with red dust that just touching them dirties your hands every time you drive, and a new one is so cheap I just buy a new one for my use and toss the old one out. I also keep an eye on the condition of the oil, and if dirty and black I'll take the truck to the shop in the Makro lot and have them do a quick oil change while we shop for groceries. The first time I did this, when I came back to get the truck, I just had a sneaking suspicion, noticing a sneaky grin on one mechanics face, and checked the oil with the stick before paying for the oil change, and looked at the oil filter to see if it was new. Fuckers think all farangs are stupid or something. The oil filter was new, but the oil was still black!!! I think the pricks just slapped a new filter on, and then topped off the old oil with a pint or two of fresh oil. Stupid assholes. Sorry, but falang not pay until you morons CHANGE THE FUCKING OIL!! Wife and Sis were bullshit with these guys once I clued them into this scam, and read the idiots the riot act. Sheepish grins and apologies, oil changed while we waited, and now they know this farang is hip to these scams, and not as stupid as he looks. Idiots think they are cute, like farangs don't pull this shit where we come from, and we know nothing about this shit, or about hanging the gas pumps with a few cents still on the meter, and filling washer fluid bottles with a bit of the blue stuff and mostly water, and other money making tricks pulled by low paid gas station attendants to make a few extra bucks off the unsuspecting and ignorant drivers of the world. I hate being cheated. I knew a jerk in the states who used to pile some empty oil cans in his oil can rack, and when asked to check a woman customer's engine oil, would swipe a finger on the oil stick, pushing the level down a quart, show the stick to the woman and tell her she was down a quart, then take an empty oil can from the rack, insert the oil nozzle in the already empty can and go through the motions as having put oil in the engine. Made a few bucks a day doing this and pocketed the monies gained for buying his beer every night. It was a busy gas station, and I'll bet he did this 10 times or more a day. He also used to put a gallon of gas in a gas can from one pump, then hang the pump up without resetting the meter. When a customer pulled up to the pump he'd block their view of the meter as he pumped their gas and they would be paying for the gallon he put in the can. Five times done a day and he'd have a five gallon can filled with gas others had paid for, which he'd put in his car at the end of the night. I told you he was a jerk. He owned the station by the way, and was a truly cheap Charlie asshole. I learned all the scams working for this mutt one summer when a kid. I know them all. One trick is to just clean the old oil filter off and pass it off as a new one, without ever even removing it from the engine block. (Or draining and cleaning off an old filter and passing it off as a new one when you install it.) You pay for the new filter, they just left the old one on and put in some new oil. A few times done a day to a few unsuspecting customers and they can make their beer drinking money for the night doing this. How to ensure this doesn't happen? Well, before going to the shop take a coin and reach down under the hood and scratch the filter somehow. (I usually make an X, so it can't be said to just be a scratch from installing the supposedly "new" filter.) Then show wife and explain to her what you did. When you pick up the vehicle pop the hood and look on the supposedly "new" filter for said scratch. And always check the supposedly new oil by using the dip stick before paying and driving away. Believe me, those who don't check this type of stuff have probably paid a few times for oil and filter changes that were never even done. Happens in shops more often then you would probably think, especially to women customers who have no clue. Don't let these little pricks get away with this stuff. Due to the fact that the front of our village house is all glass I usually have plenty of paper towels and Windex on hand, buy it in bulk actually, truth be told. There seems to be a little gremlin that keeps putting her little fingerprints on all the damned glass at the front of the house. This gremlin is a furtive creature though, and I've never caught the little rascal in the act. I need a fingerprint ID kit I think to finally catch the culprit. No one owns up to being the sticky fingered varmint who keeps putting their hands all over the goddamned windows. Look sow (daughter) is my prime suspect, though I suspect she may have accomplices. Damned fingerprint window smearing Mafia. Once finished cleaning the truck I parked it back on the street and went to grab a fresh beer from the fridge. Wife and Sis were ready to fire up the new charcoal grills, having prepared the accompanying foodstuffs and side dishes for the meats and seafood to be grilled. I went and jumped in the shower to quickly rinse off the sweat accumulated during the truck cleaning. Once finished and no longer a smelly farang, fresh again as the proverbial daisy, I went outside in the darkening evening, taking with me the marinated chicken and pork from the reefer, and another fresh cold beer. Time get this BBQ fired up!! I'm starving! (to be continued) Cent (The Central Scrutinizer) -------------------------------- "If a man deceive me once, shame on him; if twice, shame on me." Proverb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shygye Posted June 11, 2002 Report Share Posted June 11, 2002 There was a gas station in CA that altered the chips in the gas meter. It would be accurate for 5 gallon, but otherwise would be high. By being right on 5 gallons it would pass state inspection. It got busted when a customer noticed he got charged for 18 gallons for a car that had a 15 gallon tank! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 11, 2002 Report Share Posted June 11, 2002 Cent: Thanks for the tips. Keep the stories coming. How was the fishing on Memorial Day? The weather is getting too good for being on the computer these days. You must be getting ready to leave for Thailand soon. Handy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 12, 2002 Report Share Posted June 12, 2002 This makes great reading, i am off to my girls village for the first time in September to meet the outlaws. I am looking forward to it but i know there is going to be some Thai/Farang missunder standings,just hope i can be laid back and laugh it off. Boris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Central Scrutinizer Posted June 16, 2002 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2002 Shy, I think I remember hearing about that. My brother lives in San Jose. I could not believe the gasoline prices I paid one time I was visiting him out in Calif.!! It was damn near 2 bucks a gallon for some reason. This when in Boston the prices were still around a buck and a bit of change. Cent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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