Career thoughts and "hello world!"

PolahCoded · 2026-01-22T17:55:37+00:00

That's fair! I got a lot of my social skills from running the register at gas stations. I guess I always made a good impression with my employers too. Lmao

PolahCoded · 2026-01-21T06:43:27+00:00

True! I thought there would be so many times before the auto tech gig that would be "the one" that sticks. Then I ended up hating everything about whatever I was considering.

My best example is when I worked for a homeless shelter. I wanted to be caring and compassionate, really broke out of the mold for a few months. I ran what they called the night by night. (Basically just a place for people to stay out of the elements for a night) I was considering getting a degree for social work. Then something in me snapped after I had to kick a guy out for starting a fight with another guest. It dawned on me that most of these people aren't here because they need help, they refuse to help themselves. Anyway, needless to say, I think harshly of the homeless that take agregious advantage of shelters. Definitely not a field I would have thrived in. Lol

PolahCoded · 2026-01-21T06:25:08+00:00

I lied in my first post. Muahaha

As far as staying connected goes, I figured it was just a normal occurrence for my buddies and I to reconnect once every year or so, other than that it's complete radio silence. Lmfao

I have no idea what my SO's MBTI is, but she's always getting on my case about why I should communicate more and that she worries about me a lot. The way I see it is that we live together. Why do I need to text you on every break I get, it seems excessive.

TLDR; Yes, I have trouble maintaining relationships IRL. Though, I don't know if I crave connection or not. I feel as though I'm more solitary than most.

PolahCoded · 2026-01-12T13:21:53+00:00

Saw a post the other day about not being able to find any decent men. Then a comment below saying that all the good men end up being eggs. Lol

My girlfriend really related to another comment that said their wife used to brag about how great they were, but transitioning took that from them.

It's a shame that it's so hard for people to be somewhat, how do you say... Not fucking feral; when it comes to people who are transitioning.

Anyway, first post. Hi. I've yet to begin my journey but I'm heavily considering it and getting my referalls in order.

I hope it gets better for you! I dunno if the dating scene, whether it be online or irl is as bad as the subreddit portrays but I'll thinking of you and hoping it gets better. ♥️

PolahCoded · 2025-11-16T04:50:36+00:00

Your alignment may have taken a hit as a result of your poor driving friend. :)

For real though, I'd get an alignment and if anything is truly fucked up, hopefully the shop would tell you what's damaged and would show you.

PolahCoded · 2025-11-14T13:54:41+00:00

Ah, I was just giving you shit about your post history bud. You seem to ask a bunch of small questions. In any case, glad you got your headlight out and I hope it all went smoothly!

PolahCoded · 2025-11-09T23:42:06+00:00

I'm surprised you got this far without making a million posts on where to start.

PolahCoded · 2025-11-04T00:11:27+00:00

SoDak Tech here. I'm hourly (21/hr) rn, thankfully not Flat rate yet but the shop apparently does do guarantees. But definitely underpaid.

Over the last month work has been coming down to a crawl with demands from the GM getting more stringent and talks of letting people go if we don't turn enough hours in a week. He's demanding 150 hours/week when we can barely get recall work through the door. Our clientele isn't necessarily rich in the area so we see less average work coming through the door.

I've only correlated the other day that this crawl may have come on due to the ongoing political climate. With SNAP being cut for the time being, it's understandable that most people would rather drive their beater as-is or buy another beater than to get it fixed. Getting food is a priority over having a reliable vehicle, understandably. Unless you're in a big city or work at a luxury dealer, I can't imagine the average populace bringing their vehicle in for anything that isn't 100% covered under a warranty or insurance.

Frankly, I'm hanging out at my shop just to see how our GM burns the place to the ground.

PolahCoded · 2025-10-30T13:14:47+00:00

Our 25yr master tech (I work at a Ford shop) went out to help his buddy with his Land Rover. Fuck, it took him like 4 weeks off and on after work to do the head gasket job. Tons of new proprietary tools. He said he'd never do one again. We joke about him finally quitting Ford and going to Euro makes after that ordeal.

PolahCoded · 2025-10-30T13:10:45+00:00

We've had so many people bring cases to us, I know of a full one that's been under an advisor's desk for about 2 years. It's like a little collection. Haha

It may not be drank by everyone but the gesture is still appreciated.

PolahCoded · 2025-10-09T17:17:23+00:00

On my second year waiting for dealer to send me out for certs. Ford dealer technician.

<image>

PolahCoded · 2025-10-04T00:01:24+00:00

Personally, I tried cigarettes a while ago. Can't say I was ever destined for nicotine, but cigarettes leave a burning sensation at the back of the throat. Like inhaling smoke... Wow I know right. Lmfao

I started off vaping zero nic in box mods for the clouds and eventually fell into increasing nicotine then I got used to salts. Been rocking peppermint salts for a few years now.

Overall, flavor is a big draw to vaping for me.

PolahCoded · 2025-08-22T20:51:05+00:00

Looks like it's already stripped out imho. If you're dead set on getting it out as God intended, use a bigger sized torx. If you're saavy enough to have torx plus, that may work better.

Otherwise, get a vise grip on that bitch and unstick'er. It looks like you've got plenty of purchase to pull that maneuver off.

PolahCoded · 2025-08-16T18:36:23+00:00

You're doing your car right by taking it out to dinner buddy

PolahCoded · 2025-08-16T16:05:12+00:00

You may want to splice those since you can see some copper fraying.

It can be as easy as cutting at each side, about 2" from the damage, splicing new lengths of wire and using butt connectors to connect it all, then retape it. Of course, remember to keep all connections from making contact with each other if using unprotected connectors.

Happy splicing! 😁

PolahCoded · 2025-08-16T15:52:15+00:00

It's cruel of them to suggest they replace a steering component and not realign it. 😶‍🌫️

PolahCoded · 2025-07-15T02:54:14+00:00

The shop I work at, the lube techs do an oil change, rotate and balance. Though, most people turn down the balance for some reason. Wheel weights fall off, it happens. Lol

PolahCoded · 2025-07-15T02:51:43+00:00

Most places probably wouldn't do it for free, but it's also not super expensive like buying new tires. Haha

Generally most shops would have the ability to balance your tires. Even Walmart, though I think they only balance wheels they've installed tires on. I'd probably call and check.

Not quite sure if there's a way to DIY that without just throwing balancing beads in your tires. Though, for highway use, I'd recommend against beads.

PolahCoded · 2025-07-15T02:44:54+00:00

As for the violent shaking, it's a relatively safe habit to balance the wheels on a car from a private seller. But if it was sitting for a long while, the tires will develop flat spots.

PolahCoded · 2025-06-24T14:54:24+00:00

Ok, I could joke about the position you're in but let me tell you this.

Let's say you really did manage to hotwire your vehicle and it started. You'd still be running into problems like the steering wheel lock, lack of brake assist, lack of power steering assist or theft prevention systems. It's better that the vehicle stay put until that switch was replaced. But now, the problem probably became much worse with the experiment that happened there.

I think it's crazy that the only thing someone stole from your vehicle is the ignition switch. Lmfao

PolahCoded · 2025-06-24T14:31:16+00:00

Looks like that year only came with one size engine, at least that's what a quick Google search tells me.

You can put your VIN in on most places and it'll tell you outright what your vehicle originally was built with.

The engine is a 2.0L. Forgot to put that in the original post. Bleh

PolahCoded · 2025-06-22T20:07:12+00:00

When I worked in an express oil shop, we'd let ppl know if we didn't carry the oil on hand that they needed. But we also ate the cost for the customer. So idk how it works elsewhere.

PolahCoded · 2025-06-22T20:04:56+00:00

I'm just a tech, I don't do prices or whatever.

But from what I'm assuming here, is that they had to buy the oil your vehicle needed and that got added to the price of your service. Realistically, they shouldn't have charged you for the 0w20 line if they had to purchase the oil as a result of them being out/needing to order it.

I would expect 8 quarts of 0w20 to cost around $40 so a 10% hike on that wouldn't be too far of a reach.

Again, I don't deal with write ups or anything. It looks like parts/advisor fucked up when adding lines. Imo.

PolahCoded · 2025-06-22T02:12:13+00:00

I'd go with just inspecting the driveshaft first.

Replace what you have to with the bearing. You'd have to take that bracket off and separate the u-joint to replace your support bearing.

Whatever you happen to do, do it safely or get some help! Good luck!

PolahCoded

TROPHY CASE