My trusty 20 y/o wheelbarrow bit the dust this w/e (snapped handle, rusted through tub) so I shot out for new one. Picked out one with a solid tire (previously flats were a problem), metal handles, and a plastic tub. Shopped around but a little but Lowes and HD had the exact same selection and I didn’t know where else to go. HD offered assembly for $10 which I passed on considering there are about 6 parts (big mistake). One guess where this thing was designed and manufactured. Can’t tell if the design is poor or the manufacturing is poor or both, but putting this thing together was a nightmare. The parts just flat don’t fit together and the quality is
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a Jackson from yur local industrial supply and not the BB....
bring a spare wallet...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Couldn't you tell it was junk when you looked at it?
I knew it was light duty (which is fine for me) but I had no idea the parts would be so far out of spec or whatever was wrong with it. Also, my choices were limited as I didn't know where else to buy a wheelbarrow. My issue really isn't if I can use this one, I can, I was just shocked by the poor design/maufacturing. I'm going to check out a Jackson if I can find one.
Edited 8/9/2009 2:57 pm ET by TMagda
You would think the easiest thing would be for them (the manufacturer in China) to buy a good wheelbarrow and then copy everything. But I suppose they figured they could save a few pennies here and there by cheapening it, using less material, etc. Lovely. Be different if they were engineering it to do more with less and so on.
I go throught wheelbarrow every year, our company buys around twenty a year. about five years ago, I got one at ACE hardware, the handles come off with pins, easy to carry in pickups. has a metal plate under the tub. It was about $125 five years ago. I still heve it, when six months is usually the limit.
I know what you mean. Wheelbarrows, though they've been around forever, are usually poorly made and designed. I think it's a supply/demand thing. Most people have never used a good one and therefore don't know what to expect, so they put up with cr@p.
FWIW, I got a large plastic tub unit with wood handles about 10 years ago at HD. I think the label says "Black Beauty". It's been great, but was well over $100.
Scott.
Might try an Ace Hardware.
Seemingly silly as it looks, found a double wheel, 6-cu.ft metal one at Sears, a few years back. Great for a full load of sand and gravel or even for a mix of cement... Rolls easy and not a twinge of balance problem even when filled to the brim. It was on sale for $54...
Bill
I've had a Jackson for 20 yrs. Just replaced the handles with home made white oak and 2 new tubs and 4 tires and one axle. It's been great ..LOL
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
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"If Brains was lard, you couldn't grease much of a pan"
Jed Clampitt
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The ship wherein Theseus and the youth of Athens returned [from Crete] had thirty oars, and was preserved by the Athenians down even to the time of Demetrius Phalereus, for they took away the old planks as they decayed, putting in new and stronger timber in their place, insomuch that this ship became a standing example among the philosophers, for the logical question of things that grow; one side holding that the ship remained the same, and the other contending that it was not the same.
—Plutarch, Theseus[1]i'm pretty sure that you like stuff like this. but i hate when people just post a link without giving any clue as to what its about.the above quote is from the wikipedia article on the ship of theseus, part of a larger paradox section.here's the link:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_of_Theseus
Thank you, pretty much covers my look on life and the multiverse in general, it ALL a paradox.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
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"If Brains was lard, you couldn't grease much of a pan"Jed Clampitt
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Say, if you've got a paradox, that means you can tie up at least two of those Athenian ships, right?'Man who say it cannot be done should not interrupt man doing it' ~ Chinese proverb
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remind me to groan laterSpheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
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"If Brains was lard, you couldn't grease much of a pan"Jed Clampitt
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no, a paradox is what you need to make ducklings.
LOLSounds like the guy who proudly claims to have Abraham Lincoln's axe. It's had 4 new handles over the years and a new head, but it's still Abe's axe.BruceT
"I broke 2 bolts while tightening with a wrench"
This is the part that stupifies me the most. I've put together a few of these junk products where the bolts are so stinking weak that you really can't tighten them without breaking them. I mean how hard can it be to make a freaking bolt with enough strength to do the job it's intended for? I've been making it my mission to avoid buying some of this junk, but it seems to be getting harder and harder.
>>>I mean how hard can it be to make a freaking bolt with enough strength to do the job it's intended for?It's because of this:There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man's lawful prey.
John Ruskin
The unfortunate thing is that it's getting harder and harder to buy GOOD stuff, for ANY price.
As I stood before the gates I realized that I never want to be as certain about anything as were the people who built this place. --Rabbi Sheila Peltz, on her visit to Auschwitz
dig the holw deeper...
send yur money over seas....
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
"Some days it's just not worth chewing through the restraints"
when I worked for the US Navy, one time supply bought us some chinese made shackes whose pins would not line up and screw into the other side of the shackle.
Junk
Yeah, I saw something similar on a Chinese POS a few months ago. I think it was some sort of chain repair link. Hard to believe you can make something so simple, screw it up, and then STILL MANAGE TO SELL SUCH OBVIOUSLY DEFECTIVE GOODS.
As I stood before the gates I realized that I never want to be as certain about anything as were the people who built this place. --Rabbi Sheila Peltz, on her visit to Auschwitz
Like others that have posted, I stick with the 6 cuft Jacksons.
I use one for mixes (concrete, mortar, etc) and soils, the other just for soils. I've gone through one bucket, maybe three tires and three or four sets of handles.
I've bought three Jacksons over the past 15 or so years, two were from HD. Both from HD came without the risers that go between the handles and the tub. The third came from a masonry house and was fully assembled.
I HAVE to have nice thick wooden handles on my wheelbarrows. I hate those thin skinny handles and I hate metal handles too.
A good barrow with a properly inflated tire and decent handles is such a treat over the POS garbage ones that are all to common nowadays.
Places like Lowes, Sears, HD, etc. cater to the DIYer. It's not often that you will find quality, industrial tools and supplies at these stores. One problem is that they have forced a lot of local businesses to close. Finding good tools usually means shopping on line if you aren't in a major urban area. Brentwood wheelbarrows are made in the USA and are pretty nice. They are more expensive than the imports. You can often tell a cheap import by the color of the wood handles, red, and the way the front metal bar is attached ahead of the wheel/s. US handles are much larger around, and you can take a full step, too.
http://www.gemplers.com/wheelbarrows
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
Am I the only person that thinks it is INSANE that WHEELBARROWS cost $100+?!
IT is a FREAKING wheelbarrow... A wheel, tub, two wooden handles, and a couple feet.
When did a wheelbarrow go from being a $20 item to being a $100+ item?
jt8
Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you. -- Carl Sandburg
My 6 cu. ft. wheelbarrow is the one I bought about 34 years ago when my wife and I were the proud owners of a new home.
It cost a whopping $80 at that time. Made in USA, oak handles, heavy gauge steel tray. Can't remember brand.
Now I see 6 cu. footers for $60-70, made in China, light gauge tray, handles of I-don't-know-what-kind-of-wood--looks like maybe Philippine luan.
I've repainted it twice, replaced the tire once, tube twice, and scraped down the oak to prime and paint the handles. Still a good tool.
So, to me, $100 for a truly quality wheelbarrow is cheap. One that costs $60-70 is probably worth its price, but I doubt it will give long-term satisfaction.
That had better be one great wheelborrow! $80.00 In 1975 is equal to $317.00 today!
Right.
It amounted to half a week's wages for me. Now you know why I've taken such pains to maintain it over the years.
When did a wheelbarrow go from being a $20 item to being a $100+ item?When gas went from 29¢ a gallon to well, whatever it is now.
Yeah, my Wheel barrow still gets 0 mpg. I hate that.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
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"If Brains was lard, you couldn't grease much of a pan"Jed Clampitt
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Gallons of what? I can get 2 miles a gallon of beer on mine.
Whoops, wrong fuel then, I'm running on sweet tea and gatorade. I thought something was wrong.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
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"If Brains was lard, you couldn't grease much of a pan"Jed Clampitt
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Cant get much mileage on that! Just sittin on the porch swing watchin the wheelbarrow sit out in the sun.
There's a good reason why the concrete guys are willing to fork out $150 for a wheelbarrow; because the $20 ones don't cut it in a rough jobsite environment day in and day out. It's a simple business decision...does a $150 wheelbarrow provide enough value to the owner to justify the cost?The same judgment can apply to homeowners. I bought my $120 wheelbarrow 12 years ago and it's hauled TONS of stuff around a five acre property. It looks and performs pretty much like the day I bought it, so I fully expect to get another decade (at least) out of it. Good value? I think so. Not that I enjoyed forking out $120 any more than you would.Scott.
Edited 8/12/2009 5:39 pm by Scott
I knew Masons that did not clean there WBs, They just pounded on the outside and the chunks broke off inside. I asked why in the world dont you guys hose them out???. Well one said a Wb cost so much but a Masons time is more then cleaning a WB every day. Strange i know but i have seen a couple of crews not clean them.
I dont clean my wheelbarrow. If I did, somebody would steal it. serious, I like a ugly dirty wheelbarrow.
Yup, but try treating a $20 WB that way. It wouldn't last a day.
Good (expensive) wheelbarrows tend to have a nice low centre of gravity too. Whenever I have used a cheap one I always end up slopping concrete all over. They don't seem to well balanced.
True. Like everything else in life, it's a matter of compromise. I'll concede that I wouldn't want to haul concrete in the one I have. Though it's really well made, the center of gravity is a bit high for that, and the bucket is too big. (I remember hauling a barrow full of 'crete as a wobbly-legged teenager. Woke me up in a hurry.)But it's a good match for what I do now (gravel, garden work, earth moving, kid's rides.....)Soctt.
John, I get sticker shock daily buying tools, materials, groceries etc so I hear what you are saying."Am I the only person that thinks it is INSANE that WHEELBARROWS cost $100+?!IT is a FREAKING wheelbarrow... A wheel, tub, two wooden handles, and a couple feet. When did a wheelbarrow go from being a $20 item to being a $100+ item?jt8"Whenever I think something is overpriced I speculate what it would cost me to produce them, maintain an inventory, and sell it at a low enough wholesale cost that a retailer could also mark it up.There is no way I would want to try and compete with a heavy duty $130 wheelbarrow currently at my lumberyard.Your thread also makes me think about a homeowner asking why a contractor has to charge so much considering all they do is drive around in a truck, cut some lumber and hammer in some nails.Even if wheelbarrows are overpriced I can't afford to be without one and it is more economical to buy one than to make one.I have bought two or three at $100 but I have also bought several of the same brand/model used at contractor yard sales for $10.Karl
Your thread also makes me think about a homeowner asking why a contractor has to charge so much considering all they do is drive around in a truck, cut some lumber and hammer in some nails.
They HAVE to charge a lot if the wheelbarrows are $150 and the hammers $200. We won't even go into the cost of the work vehicle.
jt8
Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you. -- Carl Sandburg
Reminds me of the story about a guy that worked at the wheelbarrow handle factory, every friday he took home a wheelbarrow full of saw dust. Finally after 20 yrs they realized he was stealing wheelbarrows.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
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"If Brains was lard, you couldn't grease much of a pan"Jed Clampitt
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"Am I the only person that thinks it is INSANE that WHEELBARROWS cost $100+?!and I feel the same way about 50k harley daividson pickups. with out the deacl it just like a 15k pickup
Last W/B I bought was from a local supplier for industrial tools. Mfg.- is Brentwood Industries. Made in the USA. About $120.00...
Nice and deep, thick solid wood handles, a really nice wide tire on a wheel with bearings and even a grease port to lube the bearings.
IIRC, they even advertised that the metal parts are forged and not stamped steel.
All in all a very nice w/b... and it came assembled at no charge. The only down side is that you can really load it full... but then you gotta haul that load!
Sometimes you need to search out the suppliers who sell the better equipment than the BB's.
My $.02
I bought one of those "solid tire" wheelbarrows and after using it about a half a day, I dug the tube tire out of the trash and put it on my new wheelbarrow. The solid tires seem harder to roll in dirt.
But, hey, if anyone shoots at your tire, you can still roll! (Or, in the unlikely event you run over a nail.)
"But, hey, if anyone shoots at your tire, you can still roll!"And don't forget that highway patrol nail strips won't stop you if you get into a high speed chase with it. :)BruceT
Ok I gotta tell ya this really hope I don't lose the post. Kinda long.
I lived in acabin in the woods in the smokies, rented from an old farmer "Ralph". I had a neighbor about a mile away that made 'shine and drank a lot of shine. I'll call him Bud to protect the inno..um, drunk.
Bud was into the mash dump and wild turkey would come and eat the mash and get looped on it. One evening I saw the sherriff headed to Bud's trailer and I wandered on up to see what the problem might be.
Bud was drunker than a cooter and had messed himself, had a drunk turkey tied up and in his wheelbarrow..he called 911 when he tried to push the wheelbarrow to his brothers house to kill it. Sherriff saw the mess, saw me ( we were on first name basis) and I said I'd clean up Bud with the garden hose and get him in the trailer.
Sherriff goes about looking over the turkey and chuckling under his breath..its getting dark..and he starts talking on the radio and writing stuff while I hosed off the drunk..
Then all is done, I'm a mile from now remember..and we still have a drunk turkey in a wheel barrow to deal with..Bud won't STFU till someone takes the turkey to his brother..
So I tell Sherriff I will...but its now dark..so sherriff says he'll follow me on the narrow back road where we all live and shine his lights so I can see where I'm going.
I head up the road , he's behind me with the hibeams on and another car was oncoming..so he dimmed his lights and to warn the other driver he fired up the cherry and blues, no siren thank god...Ithought he wanted me to step it up so I started running with the wheelbarrow full of drunk turkey.
The truck passed by ( I hadn't looked close, I was blinded by the lights) and we got the turkey to Buds brothers trailer, woke him up and left it there.
I rode home w/sherriff.
Next Morning at 0500 my 86 Y.Old Landlord was rapping on my door..I groggily opened it and said "mornin Ralph, wassup?" I thought cattle got out or something.
He says " What in the hell were you doing running from the law last night witha turkey ina wheel barrow?"
That truck that was oncoming? It was him..
Just TRY to explain that with just 1/2 cup of coffee in ya to a really curious old man that you rent from.
No charge for that story. (G)
Thats the condensed version it really was a long night..
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
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"If Brains was lard, you couldn't grease much of a pan"Jed Clampitt
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Edited 8/10/2009 12:39 pm ET by Sphere
Good read award.
Ya hadda be there.
I had more whacky stuff happen to me down there in such a short time, it's like the Twilight Zone.
I could write a book.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
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"If Brains was lard, you couldn't grease much of a pan"Jed Clampitt
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well, ya know...
In this modernday web of communication it might not be a bad idear.
You could call it 'Memoirs of a Saint' or some such.
Actually, I'll bet it might make a nice magazine article for someone.
DW already had started naming chapters. shes pushing me. I said 'I'll talk, you type" that shut er up right quick.
Magazine ya say? Good Idea Chumley...I just may.
I still don't know what Penthouse would want with a turkey story, but hey, I'll a take a crack at it.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
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"If Brains was lard, you couldn't grease much of a pan"Jed Clampitt
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>>>Thats the condensed version it really was a long night..You, sir, have lived a very full life....
If you only knew half of it youd be stupified, just like me.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
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"If Brains was lard, you couldn't grease much of a pan"Jed Clampitt
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Hilarioiusly stupified. The best script writers in Hollywood would have a hard time topping that story. Man, that's a classic.
Another case of stranger than fiction, or at least funnier.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
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"If Brains was lard, you couldn't grease much of a pan"Jed Clampitt
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You got it. The story has everything.... drunk hillbillies, drunk animals, midnight brushes with the law, and our protagonist, Duane the Diaper Slayer, saves the day with a garden hose!
ROFL!That one made my day. I don't think I'll ever look at the Thanksgiving table in quite the same way again.Thanks,
BruceT
I got a tube for my tire with slime in it. I get the benefits of an air filled tire with less chance of a flat. My biggest problem had not been punctures, but a slow leak around the rim. Once it lost enough air, it would lose the seal at the rim and go flat all together.
i had my dolly lose enough air to lose the seal, and no amount of coercion could get it to seat again. used a tie-down strap and four hands to try to get the bead to seal, while the compressor was blasting, and i couldn't get it to seal. thought about getting an innertube, but would have to drill out the valve stem from the tubeless rim. (maybe i shoulda just drilled a new hole?) then i ran a bead of silicone all the way around on both sides, and that allowed me to make a seal. a year later, it lost enough air to lose the seal again, but the silicone was still there, and even while not wet, it still allowed me to get a seal.
You can just yank the stem out , and if it won't take a bead, try the starting fluid trick.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
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"If Brains was lard, you couldn't grease much of a pan"Jed Clampitt
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afraid to ask, but i'm guessing there's a match involved. but how do you get the match inside the tire?
Spray inside, step back, toss match at the bead. Fawwwwoommp! Tire seated.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
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"If Brains was lard, you couldn't grease much of a pan"Jed Clampitt
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> but how do you get the match inside the tire?No need. You stand about 5 feet away and toss it at the tire.
As I stood before the gates I realized that I never want to be as certain about anything as were the people who built this place. --Rabbi Sheila Peltz, on her visit to Auschwitz
http://gfretwell.com/humor/Howtoinflateatire.wmv
> but how do you get the match inside the tire?
No need. You stand about 5 feet away and toss it at the tire.
No, you might miss.
1. Point can of starter fluid at tire
2. Hold lit match in front of can
3. Spray starter fluid.
Much more impressive
No help here, just an observation.
I once saw an old (pre-industrial) Chinese peasant wheelbarrow that I wish I could post a picture of.
Its main feature was a big (about 3-foot diameter) wooden spoked wheel. The wheel was flanked by two big compartments, also of wood, sort of like two big saddlebags, which were placed low so as to give a low center of gravity.
You could obviously haul huge loads over rough ground with this thing.
I'm thinking ancient Chinese peasants were smarter than modern Chinese engineers.
On second thought, maybe I'm wrong--the ancient Chinese peasants weren't sucking in billions of US $.
Normally if you have an old one , you rebuild it . Its worth more than new ones.
You can get a new one that good but they are 200 dollars . Dont go lookin for a replacement for 69 bucks cause it aint it .
Ive picked some up at estate sales , farm sales what not . Really hard to find an old heavy duty. Tires , wheels and handles are no problem.
I also look for old post hole diggers that are heavy duty.
Ive picked some up at estate sales , farm sales what not . Really hard to find an old heavy duty. Tires , wheels and handles are no problem.
Just so long as you're not talking about the wood ones with the metal wheel/tire...jt8
Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you. -- Carl Sandburg
Ask a mason where they buy wheelbarrows. Those guys know. In my experiance they also know how to fix tail gates on pick-up trucks.
In general, I have never seen a group of people who are harder on tools than masons.
I meditate, I burn candles, I drink green tea, and still I want to smack someone.
These are the only wheelbarrows I will buy.
http://www.wlmd.com/miller.html
I have four of them and the only problems I have had are flat tires and if you don't store them so water can drain the tub will rust out.
Last new one I bought was about $100 at the lumberyard assembled.
I have to have the steel handles otherwise they get broken in short order.
I do have one wheelbarrow that is even sturdier that I inherited but don't know what brand it is (too rusty).
I too share your frustration with the cheap wheelbarrows. Almost worse than not having one at all.
Karl
That looks like a buy these days . Ones Id have were 200.
The way things go these days I think a wheelbarrow cost me $100 but what I forget is the last one I bought was 8 years ago.Next time I am at the lumberyard I need to remember to see what they cost today.Whatever this particular wheelbarrow costs they are worth it. I even gave one to my close friend as a wedding present.Karl
buck thirty...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
"Some days it's just not worth chewing through the restraints"
I just bought one with a plastic pan and metal handles from Cosco for around 50 bucks.
Anytime i buy something like this i have to paint all metal and throw away the bolts that come with it and use Stainless steel bolts and nuts.
Being right near the Ocean everything rusts, If i can get 4 years out of a Wheelbarrow thats a good run.
I still want to buy a Metal Mason one but i would need to keep it inside and i dont have the space.
I need at least 2 or 3 ready to go for concrete and bark dust, dirt etc.
Right now one is filled with wood to burn, one with trash, I separate as i remodel burnables in one, Felt and garbage in the other.
On another note 3 neighbors have WBs sitting in there yards with broken handles, It helps to carefully inspect the handles before you buy one, If theres big knots or the grain is split pick out another one!!!
I don't think there is a mid-grade wheel-barrow anymore. It's either the junk at a home center or the expensive one at a concrete contractors supply house. In my neck of the woods that'd be Janell in cincinnati.
what does POS stand for??
You should be banned from BT according to standard being currntly administered.
Positively Outstanding Substance.
As I stood before the gates I realized that I never want to be as certain about anything as were the people who built this place. --Rabbi Sheila Peltz, on her visit to Auschwitz
Well, the tin star mods should be reading POS a bit different than that considering how I was treated for what I still don't know.
Hows things going workwise for you. Did you ever find something?
EP
Nope. Had a couple of interviews in the past few weeks, which is more action that I've had in a while, but it still looks pretty bad out there -- employers are being very picky (because they can) and not paying very well (because they can get away with it). Just about any job I get will be out of town, with that expense added.
As I stood before the gates I realized that I never want to be as certain about anything as were the people who built this place. --Rabbi Sheila Peltz, on her visit to Auschwitz
If you don't know what it means, why do you think I should be banned?
Mind your own business.
It might be a weak attempt at a humorus sig line.
Perfect Olfactory Symbiosis
Did that site exist 14 YEARS AGO?
The spam link you replied to just above has been deleted.
Clever those worthless s.o.b’s.