Good car battery to buy?

Walmart, Costco & Autozone batteries are made by Johnson Controls. They're
pretty decent batteries. The optima's are supposed to have a good record,
but I've noticed they last about 3 years, if that, and not they simply don't
take a trickle charge when they die out.
Exide's are good NOW.. a few years ago they decided to get cheap and put
thinner plates in and they lasted 2 years, you were lucky. I've been told
the problem is fixed and they're back to using quality stuff.
My Diehard Rangehandler is on its 6th year, no problems, no nothing. If it
survives this winter, I'm thinking of trying an optima red top next..


"larry moe 'n curly" > wrote in message
oups.com...
>
> wrote:
> > Anyone have advice on a decent "brand" car battery to
> > buy?
>
> The Nov. 2004 issue of Consumer Reports does. There didn't seem to be
> much relationship between brand and rankings, but Sears Diehards and
> Advance Auto's Autostarts usually ranked high, and physically bigger
> batteries met their advertised rating better than smaller ones did.
>
> > Anything from Walmart worth buying since they are
> > EVERYWHERE in the US?
>
> I used to buy nothing but their $30 60mo/12mo warranted batteries and
> replaced them every three years, but they've since cut down on their
> selection of these, so you'll probably have to pay $40 or $60. CR
> ranked their batteries in the lower half of each group, and they tested
> mostly the $60 yellow ones.
>
>

Daniel J. Stern wrote:

> On Thu, 23 Dec 2004, larry moe 'n curly wrote:
>
> > > And I'm sure it's every bit as valid and reliable as all the rest
of
> > > Condemner Retards' crapola.
>
> > What's wrong with their battery review? They measured CCAs,
reserve
> > capacity, and did an industry standard test for underhood
operation. In
> > fact they sort of agreed with you.
>
> I wouldn't trust Condemner Retards if they said it was bright and
sunny
> out at high noon on June 15th in Tucson, AZ.

But they pretty much agreed with you about Wal-mart batteries. So
again, what's what's wrong with their battery review?

On Fri, 24 Dec 2004, larry moe 'n curly wrote:

> > > What's wrong with their battery review? They measured CCAs, reserve
> > > capacity, and did an industry standard test for underhood operation.
> > > In fact they sort of agreed with you.

> > I wouldn't trust Condemner Retards if they said it was bright and
> > sunny out at high noon on June 15th in Tucson, AZ.

> But they pretty much agreed with you about Wal-mart batteries.

You're missing my point. You get 200 points on the Scholastic Aptitude
Test for correctly writing your name at the top of the answer sheet. You
can get half the answers right on a true/false test or 25% of the answers
right on a 4-option multiple-choice test by guessing at random. Even the
stupid, even the incompetent sometimes stumble into correct answers.

DS

Daniel J. Stern wrote:
> On Fri, 24 Dec 2004, larry moe 'n curly wrote:
>
> > What's wrong with their battery review? They measured CCAs,
reserve
> > capacity, and did an industry standard test for underhood
operation.
> > In fact they sort of agreed with you.
>
> > > I wouldn't trust Condemner Retards if they said it was bright and
> > > sunny out at high noon on June 15th in Tucson, AZ.
>
> > But they pretty much agreed with you about Wal-mart batteries.
>
> You're missing my point. You get 200 points on the Scholastic
Aptitude
> Test for correctly writing your name at the top of the answer sheet.
You
> can get half the answers right on a true/false test or 25% of the
answers
> right on a 4-option multiple-choice test by guessing at random. Even
the
> stupid, even the incompetent sometimes stumble into correct answers.

You're mad because I pointed out that you agreed with Consumer Reports,
aren't you? But that doesn't make you a girly man, unlike your....

water) to the sauce.
You are just about there, Pour the sauce over the cutlets,
top with parsley, lemon slices and cracked pepper.
Serve with spinach salad, macaroni and cheese (homemade) and iced tea...



Spaghetti with Real Italian Meatballs

If you don?t have an expendable bambino on hand,
you can use a pound of ground pork instead.
The secret to great meatballs, is to use very lean meat.

1 lb. ground flesh; human or pork
3 lb. ground beef
1 cup finely chopped onions
7 - 12 cloves garlic
1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
½ cup milk, 2 eggs
Oregano
basil
salt
pepper
Italian seasoning, etc.
Tomato gravy (see index)
Fresh or at least freshly cooked spaghetti or other pasta

Mix the ground meats together in a large bowl,
then mix each of the other ingredients.
Make balls about the size of a baby?s fist
(there should be one lying around for reference).
Bake at 400°for about 25 minutes -
or you could fry them in olive oil.
Place the meatballs in the tomato gravy, and simmer for several hours.
Serve on spaghetti.
Accompany with green salad, garlic bread and red wine.



Newborn Parmesan

This classic Sicilian cuisine can easily be turned into Eggplant Parmesan
If you are planning a vegetarian meal. Or you could just as well use veal -
after all, you have to be careful - Sicilians are touchy about their young
family members...

6 newborn or veal cutlets
Tomato gravy (see index)
4 cups mozzarella, 1cup parmesan, 1cup romano
Seasoned bread crumbs mixed with
parmesan
romano
salt
pepper
oregano
garlic powder
chopped parsley
Flour
eggwash (eggs and milk)
Peanut oil for frying.

Pound the cutlets.
Dredge in flour, eggs, then the b

On Sat, 25 Dec 2004, larry moe 'n curly wrote:

> You're mad because I pointed out that you agreed with Consumer Reports

No. I'm not mad at all.

Here, let me try again, since you're having such trouble: I distrust
Condemner Retards, period. I don't care what they said about batteries.

There, is that clear for you?

> But that doesn't make you a girly man, unlike your....

Unlike my...?

Dan,
Guy in alt.autos.dodge.trucks is looking for you.
Says he bought a kit from you that didn't have instructions.


"Daniel J. Stern" > wrote in message
n.umich.edu...
> On Sat, 25 Dec 2004, larry moe 'n curly wrote:
>
> > You're mad because I pointed out that you agreed with Consumer
Reports
>
> No. I'm not mad at all.
>
> Here, let me try again, since you're having such trouble: I distrust
> Condemner Retards, period. I don't care what they said about
batteries.
>
> There, is that clear for you?
>
> > But that doesn't make you a girly man, unlike your....
>
> Unlike my...?
>
>
>

Thanks, Steve. I sent him an e-mail; I'll go over and post as well.

On Sun, 26 Dec 2004, Steve W. wrote:

>
> Dan,
> Guy in alt.autos.dodge.trucks is looking for you.
> Says he bought a kit from you that didn't have instructions.
>
>
> "Daniel J. Stern" > wrote in message
> n.umich.edu...
> > On Sat, 25 Dec 2004, larry moe 'n curly wrote:
> >
> > > You're mad because I pointed out that you agreed with Consumer
> Reports
> >
> > No. I'm not mad at all.
> >
> > Here, let me try again, since you're having such trouble: I distrust
> > Condemner Retards, period. I don't care what they said about
> batteries.
> >
> > There, is that clear for you?
> >
> > > But that doesn't make you a girly man, unlike your....
> >
> > Unlike my...?
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>

el Diablo > wrote in article
>...
>
>
> Are you really as dense as you appear to be in your posts? What is wrong
> with shopping at Wal-Mart? I mean even if you buy into only purchasing
name
> brands of products which is fine as it's personal opinion. Wal-Mart sells
> all kinds of brand name products, including baby food.
>

Well, in my case, the local Wal*Mart pays less property taxes for their
"Super Store" than I do for a modest single family home on 1.3 acres of
land due to the local politicians allowing the building to be built with
what is called "Tax Increment Financing" or TIF.

What that means is that Wal*Mart doesn't pay ANY property taxes -
theoretically applying what would have been paid in taxes to the local
community towards retiring the cost of building the store. My local
Wal*Mart has just expanded, and is in for a 20-year, tax-free ride.

I know MY own mortgage would have been paid off a lot faster if I could
have applied my monthly property tax burden to my principal - how about
you?

In their efforts to be able to brag about the number - not necessarily the
quality - of local jobs they have created at their next election, the local
politicos have increased the burden on city services - fire, police,
traffic control issues, road maintenance, snow plowing, sanding, etc. -
with no increase in revenues to pay for this.

Wanna' guess who picks up THAT tab? The local property tax payers, that's
who.

Looking at it from another perspective, the local property tax payers are
actually funding the building for Wal*Mart.....but, they didn't get to vote
on THAT expenditure!

Many Wal*Mart stores have been built this way....maybe even you own local
Wal*Mart.....which would mean that a portion of YOUR OWN property tax bill
is going to offset that which Wally doesn't pay....

THAT'S ONE!


Then, there is the near-minimum wage paid to Wal*Mart employees that is
enough to keep them off unemployment, welfare rolls and Medicaid, but
doesn't provide them with any sort of health benefits, so......

....they end up using the local hospital's E.R. as their family physician.

The hospital, of course, cannot refuse a patient, so the costs of medical
services for these Wal*Mart employees are passed along to the other
hospital service users, resulting in insurance and general cost increases.

Wal*Mart doesn't pay their employee any benefits....but the members of
their communities do!

Are fees going up at your own local hospital??????

THAT'S TWO!


Then, there are the legions of local, tax-paying Mom 'n' Pop businesses
that have been driven out of business by the Wal*Marts....forcing us to go
from dealing with knowledgeable, experienced, caring people who really know
their product to dealing with the Buckley's (King of the Hill -
Mega-Lo-Mart) of this world who believe they're worth much more than the
near-minimum wage they're being paid, yet they don't know the difference
between a Grade five screw and a Grade eight screw.

Of course, the local Wal*Mart has managed to employ many
"unemployables"....but it has been at the cost of sending many of our
experienced, tax-paying business people - and all their knowledge and
experience - to the welfare rolls......

.....not to mention what the Wal*Mart "buying power" has done to the
manufacturing and distribution system in this country......

........forcing companies to toe the Wal*Mart line - effectively becoming
Wal*Mart-exclusive suppliers - only to drop them totally out of the picture
for a couple of pennies more on another brand....often driving the first
company completely out of business.

THAT'S THREE!


And.......these are just SOME of the reasons why many intelligent community
residents are fighting to keep Wal*Mart out of their own communities.


> What the hell is wrong with you?
>

I, for one, don't like being told that purchasing a name-brand product at
Wal*Mart will, by some miracle, SAVE me money in the long run, when I know
that simply isn't true.....not when the entire picture is brought into
focus.

Do some research into your own local Wal*Mart.

Find out how it managed to come to town and build - more importantly
FINANCE - its building......Are YOU paying for it? How much is it costing
YOU? How many FRAM oil filters do YOU have to buy to break even?

Find out what they pay for property taxes compared to what you pay....

.....and how close does their annual tax payment come to covering the
additional burden they place on city/town services.

Find out exactly how many of its employees are forced to rely on pro-bono
services from hospitals and others to keep their families healthy....

.....and what the per-capita cost is to the community.

Talk with some of the Wal*Mart department "experts", such as the automotive
department assistant manager who has never turned a wrench in his life -
even on the bicycle he rides to work from junior high school.......

Get - better still, FOLLOW his advice on how you should be maintaining your
car......

.......then come back to me and tell me exactly how much you are actually
saving with the few pennies or dollars difference in same-part-number
prices at Wal*Mart.

--
Bob Paulin - R.A.C.E.
Race Car Chassis Analysis & Setup Services
Chassis Blueprinting Services (as in engine blueprinting)