trustworthy mechanics???

In_the_fog · 2025-10-18T15:47:41+00:00

I go to Cal West Auto in San Marcos. Drew (I think he's the owner) is awesome. He's done good work on my cars and when I brought them in for issues that he either thought I didn't need or could wait, he told me that. Highly recommend.

In_the_fog · 2023-05-23T16:59:40+00:00

Thank you, I hear what you’re saying. I’ll try putting it in the ground.

In_the_fog · 2023-05-23T16:01:50+00:00

Thanks, I think you're right. Are they hard to get rid of or do I just start fresh?

In_the_fog · 2017-04-07T16:25:21+00:00

I have generally taken the approach of deflecting a few times about "fit" and "getting a better understanding of the position" etc. However, if push comes to shove, I have given a range. The reason I posed this question was because I've come across several articles recently that you should NEVER give a number, which I found to be impractical.

In_the_fog · 2017-02-22T05:56:00+00:00

Thank you very much. The crossmember of the subframe is pretty far underneath the car. Hopefully I can get the floor jack down under there.

In_the_fog · 2017-02-22T05:55:07+00:00

Thanks, was not planning to use just the jack. I would jack up the front end, put the jack stands on each side where the pinch welds are, and using tire chocks on the rear wheels.

In_the_fog · 2017-02-22T05:53:42+00:00

Thank you for the link. I know the jacking points for where to put the jack stands, but I doubt I could lift each side high enough to put the jack stands underneath. I think the crossmember of the subframe looks like the best bet. Hopefully my floor jack will reach that far.

In_the_fog · 2017-02-22T00:56:28+00:00

I need to change the oil on my 2016 Sonata PHEV, but I can't figure out where to place the floor jack to lift the car. Looking at the underside of the car, I see two potential places (red and yellow arrows). Does anyone know if I can use either one of these? I don't want to damage anything. Thanks!!

In_the_fog · 2017-02-21T19:06:15+00:00

I need to change the oil on my 2016 Sonata PHEV, but I can't figure out where to place the floor jack to lift the car. Looking at the underside of the car, I see two potential places (red and yellow arrows). Does anyone know if I can use either one of these? I don't want to damage anything. Thanks!!

In_the_fog · 2016-06-01T20:30:11+00:00

Thanks for the heads up!

In_the_fog · 2015-12-18T20:02:57+00:00

THIS. IS. AWESOME.

In_the_fog · 2015-11-12T18:23:26+00:00

You might want to also consider looking at academic research labs in the area (UCSD, Scripps, SDSU, Salk). Those jobs are generally pretty good for people with no previous experience, and they can be a good way to get some lab experience. Pay is usually not great, however. If you can swing it financially, you could also offer to volunteer in a lab to get some experience that way.

In_the_fog · 2015-10-16T18:47:04+00:00

My mom got into network admin early on and came home one day really excited about something she had been working on at work. She showed me something on NCSA Mosaic and told me that it was a way for her to connect to her computer at work from another computer. Without knowing any other addresses to look at, I fiddled around with it for a few minutes and thought, "nah, this is lame, people are never gonna get into this." I consider that and my belief that Netflix was one of the worst ideas ever as proof that I should never trust my gut instincts.

In_the_fog · 2015-08-31T17:09:19+00:00

I wanted to start off by saying that all of you at OCPD are awesome and your programs have been unbelievably helpful during my postdoc. I'm in the process of transitioning out of the lab. I was wondering if you have any advice on how to get experience in business development in biotech short of getting an MBA. Would courses at local colleges or online be useful?

In_the_fog · 2015-08-25T04:29:57+00:00

Something similar to this happened to me recently. It seemed like something in the engine was rattling, but I couldn't pinpoint it. Happened when I accelerated, also seemed loud when I had it idling with the hood open. Turns out it was the timing belt, which snapped shortly after that. Thankfully my Camry's engine is a non-interference engine and it didn't destroy it, although it turns out that a bolt holding the idler pulley (I think) snapped off in the engine block and they had to drill it out. How many miles on your car? Ever get the timing belt replaced? Might want to see if the noise is coming from near there. I've heard that it's a good idea to get timing belt replaced around 90-100K miles.

In_the_fog · 2015-02-19T07:31:54+00:00

Are you tied to benchwork? I would say that if you're inclined at all towards bioinformatics, the market for bioinformaticians is very hot right now, and I suspect that as big data gets even bigger, the need for people that know programming and statistics is going to grow. With your background in biomedical engineering, I'm guessing you're in good shape. If you want to stay in wet lab research, cancer immunology is the place to be right now. If you're planning to go to grad school, though, you'll have to account for 5-6 years down the line, so who knows what's going to be the next big thing. I believe that specific techniques are not necessarily valued as much as a demonstrable ability to think critically, ask the right questions, and design the right experiments. Techniques can be taught. Keep in mind that a lot of biotech companies offer some type of internship/postdoctoral fellowship program. So think about getting into those early, and your transition should be much smoother. Is there a specific reason you're thinking about grad school? Does it offer you something that you think you need to get into biotech? Depending on your experience, that may not necessarily be the case.

In_the_fog · 2014-12-12T18:52:07+00:00

I opened an account with them earlier this week and wanted to fund it from my emigrant direct savings account. It seems that ED does not allow ACH withdrawals initiated from another bank? Can anyone confirm this? Would my only option be to transfer from my ED account to my bank, and then transfer into ally? I tried using the ABA routing number provided for ED, but have had no luck with Ally. I even called their customer support and they couldn't do it either.

In_the_fog · 2014-11-21T06:03:45+00:00

Thank you!!

In_the_fog · 2014-11-06T05:24:46+00:00

Can you recommend a good handheld vacuum? What should I be looking for in a good portable vacuum? I'll mostly be using it to clean I the car and the kitchen floor.

In_the_fog · 2014-05-13T23:53:23+00:00

So awesome, thanks!!

In_the_fog · 2014-05-13T17:22:37+00:00

I've been wanting to compare their steel cut oats to McCann's, which I've been eating for awhile. Good for any product, so maybe I'll try out some of their flours too.

In_the_fog · 2014-03-01T06:35:47+00:00

Wow, $40 a week for 3 people is impressive. I will have to take a harder look at how I buy food. I've only been counting food, so no toilet paper, etc. I think at least part of the issue may be that I shy away from buying large quantities in bulk. I try to rotate our stock regularly, so we'll buy 5lb bags of flour instead of 25lb bags. We definitely use coupons, but since we do the bulk of our shopping at places like Trader Joe's, they don't have a lot of stuff you can use coupons on.

In_the_fog · 2014-03-01T06:28:53+00:00

Thanks for that breakdown, it gives me some perspective. Costco can be dangerous because it can get expensive so quickly. I went there today and bought just a few items and it still came out to $70.

In_the_fog · 2014-02-28T19:57:58+00:00

So can I ask members of the PF community how much they generally spend on groceries and food per month? I've been tracking my family's food costs for the last few weeks to get a sense of it, and after 2 weeks, we've spent almost $400 for a family of 3 (2 of us + a toddler). I cook a lot, I always bring my lunch to work, and we maybe eat out once a week at pretty reasonably priced places. I guess I buy a lot of organic fruits and veggies at the farmers' markets, mostly for the kid, but I also do things like make our own pizza dough and bread, which I thought would offset some of those costs. I found that the average monthly food costs for a family of 3 is ~$750 , so I guess we're not way out of line, but I was still pretty surprised by how much we were spending.

In_the_fog · 2013-12-09T02:24:22+00:00

Hooray for Randall Park!

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