One Good Cop

[winger]

You tow a tricycle?

6 tires on the truck, 4 on the RV, and 1 wheel frame extension for the motorcycle.

No, it's not a trailer. That's my story.

 

[rescueme]

Yes, but if a guy doesn't know how to change a tire then he has to surrender his man card at the nearest weightlifter's gym, barber shop, or sports bar.

I doubt if he ever has gone (or even aware) of the closest "weightlifter's gym, barber shop, or sports bar" ...

 

[youbet]

These 2 were so inept that he was doing it to get them off the road side? I've seen a cop do it for a woman but 2 guys?

I particularly like to see a female officer changing a tire for 2 guys! Even better, changing it for the 2 guys in the winter with 6 inches of dirty slush be splashed about in waves by passing semi-trucks!

 

[Nords]

After checking my license and whatnot, the senior guy sheepishly told me that they were having problems with squirrels in the attic of the visitor center and they would appreciate it if I helped reduce the squirrel popluation in the trees by the building (not normally open to hunting). With squirrels practically doing cartwheels in the branches, I was happy to oblige the good Coorado state park rangers. I also gave them some tips on how to deal with the infestation since I had the same problem in the house in the past.

The funny thing was that from casual chatting wth them I know they are both hunters.
From what I saw, they did not need help from a few random squirrel hunters. They needed a free afternoon, an accurate rifle, and a 500 round box of .22 shells. One of the reasons I drive out there is that the squirrel hunting is so reliably good. That attic is going to stay infested if I were to guess.

Lemme get this straight-- you've become a hired gun who works for food?
Well, I guess that's not too different from working on Wall Street in the first place.
Who gets the squirrel meat & pelts? If you're eradicating rodents for rangers, is there a bag limit? Or do you have to divide the kill among the three of you?
You would think that the squirrel overpopulation problem would eventually attract more snakes & owls, if not full-blown feline predators.

I doubt if he ever has gone (or even aware) of the closest "weightlifter's gym, barber shop, or sports bar" ...

Good point-- he probably didn't have a man card in the first place...

 

[brewer12345]

Lemme get this straight-- you've become a hired gun who works for food?
Well, I guess that's not too different from working on Wall Street in the first place.
Who gets the squirrel meat & pelts? If you're eradicating rodents for rangers, is there a bag limit? Or do you have to divide the kill among the three of you?
You would think that the squirrel overpopulation problem would eventually attract more snakes & owls, if not full-blown feline predators.

They did not stick around and I was running out of time (squirrels are a PITA to clean and it takes time), so I bagged a couple and ran. I was one shy of my daily limit and if I had more time I would have limited out (5 a day limit). The rangers did not stick around, so there was no division of the spoils. The pelts nobody uses (except the coyotes). The meat is very tasty and the tails I am stockpiling to trade to the Mepps fishing lure company for some lures ( Squirrel Tail - Selling Squirrel Tails - Squirrel Hunting | Mepps ).

I have seen a feral Siamese cat there, I know there are scads of coyotes (although I have never seen one - scat everywhere), and you would not believe the huge hawks I see there (major squirrel predators). Its a neat place for a state park that is basically there because of a huge reservoir that holds irrigation water. I see tons of white tail deer, rabbits, even whole flocks of wild turkeys. There are different sections of the park, including thick woods, cottonwoods bordering a canal, grasslands, wetlands, and of course the lake. We will be camping there this summer because there is good fishing and one of the nicest lakefront swimming beaches I have seen since leaving the Jersey shore.

 

[KM]

I changed tires for women sometimes (retired police officer here) when they were either in a location conducive to causing accidents or clearly not in position to shell out the cash for a tow truck.

Men never asked me to change it but I would stay there and block that lane so they wouldn't be hit from behind.

On the interstates in the DC area though we never changed tires because it was simply too dangerous. Call a tow truck and get that thing out of there.

True story - DD now lives in Alexandria, VA. She got a flat tire on one of the xx5 highways in the area. She pulled over, got out, and before she could call AAA a VDOT truck pulled up behind her. The guy got out, changed her tire for her and sent her on her way. I was pretty surprised when she told me.... Her comment was something to the effect that it was dangerous where she was. I was impressed.

 

[kyounge1956]

Disclaimer - I'm female.
I have women friends who are very smart - execs, teachers, sales types... all very successful and competent. But would miss some of the basics on tire changing... Things like loosening the lug nuts before you jack up the car. Where the jack is and how to use it. Where the spare or donut tire is.

I know a few men who would also be clueless... but fewer of them.

This is an area where there is definitely a gender gap of experience and knowledge. Women can change tires, but many may not know the basics to make it an easy process.

I am a woman too. I didn't know how to change a tire the first time I needed to. Fortunately, it was explained very clearly in the driver's manual, including the need to loosen the lug nuts first. The one place I might run into trouble is if the lug nuts were put on with a power wrench--they can be so tight I can't get them off again. In such a circumstance it might be useful to have a 180-lb state patrol officer to stand on the end of the lug wrench, rather than 125-lb me.

I'm going to have to get a can of that "fix-a-flat". I had a flat recently. The back of my car is full of stuff, and I didn't feel up to unloading it all, changing tire to donut, re-loading, drive to tire shop, get bad tire replaced, then have to un-load and re-load AGAIN to put the donut back. A can of sealant probably would have made it possible for me to drive to the tire store, no unloading required. I ended up deciding to pay for a tow. One question about that sealant, is the sensor in the tire or in the wheel? If it's in the wheel would the sealant still affect it? That whole incident made me want to have the tire-holder from an old Lincoln Continental welded to the back of my Prius so I can carry a fully functional spare wheel and have it available regardless of what's in the back of the car.

 

[veremchuka]

My wife just had a flat. She called me so I drove to where she was. By the time I got there she had the spare out and all the lug nuts removed from the wheel! I had to re educate her about not taking the lug nuts off till the car was jacked up, just loosen them.

She is a somewhat frail 56 year old with one bad arm due to a bad wrist break. So yeah the guys need to turn in their man card if they can't do it.

Too funny, I was going to say for a woman the lug nuts may be impossible to remove. I've had to stand on a (short) lug wrench handle (should have had a 3' pipe in the trunk) to break some.

For decades I always insist that I will tighten the lug nuts when I have a tires put on. "Oh we set the wrench to just 80 pounds of torque, that's what is recommended" he says. "That's nice" I say "just call me to tighten them". I always back each nut off to be sure the thing isn't torqued to 150 pounds then I hand tighten them. Never had a wheel loosen up and if I have a flat I can get the darned thing off.

 

[HFWR]

As an aside, please set the parking brake before trying to change a tire...

 

[Nords]

I have seen a feral Siamese cat there, I know there are scads of coyotes (although I have never seen one - scat everywhere), and you would not believe the huge hawks I see there (major squirrel predators). Its a neat place for a state park that is basically there because of a huge reservoir that holds irrigation water. I see tons of white tail deer, rabbits, even whole flocks of wild turkeys. There are different sections of the park, including thick woods, cottonwoods bordering a canal, grasslands, wetlands, and of course the lake. We will be camping there this summer because there is good fishing and one of the nicest lakefront swimming beaches I have seen since leaving the Jersey shore.

Thanks. Sounds like the squirrels are evading the predators a little too well...

 

[brewer12345]

Thanks. Sounds like the squirrels are evading the predators a little too well...

They do not evade me too well.

 

[REWahoo]

They do not evade me too well.

Trophy squirrel...

 

[ERD50]

What does gender have to do with changing a tire?

There are at least two dangerous, common car maintenance routines. One is jumping the battery (covered in the 'car tips' thread), the other is changing a tire.

If you don't know what you are doing, don't do it! Call someone who knows how to do it safely. This could be a male or a female - qualifications count, not what's between their legs (hmmm, interesting juxtaposition with that thread on Saudi Arabia?).

As far as changing a tire, it takes some general familiarity with mechanical stuff. As NW-Bound related, a car can fall off a jack. It takes some experience to know about weight distribution, stability, is that ground firm enough to support the weight w/o shifting, what kind of angle is the car at, etc. That mostly comes from experience. How many people actually use their 'parking brake'? Do they know it will withstand the forces of the car being lifted? Someone may be very smart in some ways, but not be a good judge of these things.

Don't be afraid to ask for help. If you never changed a tire before, doing it on a busy road, on a soft shoulder, at night, might not be the best place to practice.

-ERD50

 

[W2R]

[...]There are at least two dangerous, common car maintenance routines. One is jumping the battery (covered in the 'car tips' thread), the other is changing a tire.[...]Don't be afraid to ask for help. If you never changed a tire before, doing it on a busy road, on a soft shoulder, at night, might not be the best place to practice.

I agree. I don't do these things, ever. In the 14 years since my divorce, my car has needed jumping only twice and a tire has only needed to be changed once. A co-worker helped me for the first battery incident, and an old friend for the tire. The second time my battery died I just called a tow truck because it was covered under warranty.

If you don't have a friend that you can call on to help you even once in well over a decade, you have more problems than I do. But if that is the case, I suppose one could call a tow truck to help you even if not under warranty, without the expense averaging too much per year in the long run.

 

[brewer12345]

Trophy squirrel...

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