JohnW

I don't think it's a matter of a separatist attitude. I believe it's the fact that our forfathers fought hard to give us what we have today. We have a wave of illegals crossing the border that don't just include Mexicans, but anyone who wants to enter this country without going thru the legalities of doing so. Those who don't go about gaining citizenship correctly have everything to gain and we the citizens of this country have everything to lose. I don't believe we are shutting them out, we just want them to do it the right way. On the other hand, I've kept my Spanish up since high school and I have found it to be somewhat useful in certain times.

We add wax to our rinse but we also use 'rinse aid' from RPC (Rowlett) so we don't have any problems. The Rinse Aid keeps your mix from spotting the windows. As long as you rinse plenty you shouldn't have a problem. Hope that helps.

Carlos, I'm sorry to hear you had such a bad experience. I'm a full time PC Tech and the goons at Best Buy are usually nothing more than teenagers. I can't tell you how many times I've heard this same story. It's good that they are covering the costs for the hard drive data recovery for you. I know when we have to send hard drives out, it can run anywhere from $500 to $3000. It all depends on how hard the data is to recover by the company who does it. I personally have an external back up hard drive. I recommend using the Maxtor One Touch system or a Western Digital backup drive, both are highly rated. I've never once had a problem with the Western Digital system I use. I'm also a big fan of the pen drive / usb key drives. I have a 1 gig one and I put all of my most valuable files on that as well. Of course you can't fit everything on a 1 gig drive, but the most important of important go on there and it's encrypted in case I ever lose it, the encryption scheme has never been cracked.

http://hartshearth.com/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=215&idproduct=4609 Hope that helps

Scott, We have a Vanguard also, and after finding the battery wasn't the problem, I was going to switch the entire ignition out, but the guy at this parts store told me to try the solenoid first, and he said the solenoid was a lot cheaper than to replace the entire ignition. I took his advice and he was right, the solenoid was the problem. I guess just advice for the future at this point. Hope that helps.

I think everyone has some really valid points. The part about whether to shoot a person over your stuff is a hard one for me. If I could read the suspect's mind knowing he was only going to take my material possessions, you all are right, I'd let him have it. The thing is, in reality, most would be attackers are going to have a weapon in hand and you have no earthly idea what they are going to do next. I would tend to bet that the attacker hasn't pre-planned what he's going to do either. Maybe he needs $500 worth of stuff to sell on the street to get his next fix. Maybe you're in his way and he doesn't want any witnesses, so maybe taking your life isn't a big deal to him. It's hard to know what's going thru someone's head when you get held up and / or attacked. There's really no time to find out if that attacker is going to be taking material possessions or your life. This is where a gun comes in. Most attackers see a gun drawn and they run quickly. My objection isn't to tangle/fight/talk/etc. with this guy, my biggest objective is for him to see that I'm not playing games and he needs to leave me alone immediately.

Yes, we have CCW permits here in Atlanta. The law here is that you can carry it in your vehicle even if you don't have a permit. It's considered an extension of the home. With a permit, you are allowed to carry it waist and above. The rest states that you can't have it at a public gathering, places that serve alchol, churches, etc. The min. age is 21. I find it interesting that some people though say they can't carry because of their temper. I couldn't see getting mad enough to pull my weapon on anyone unless it was acting in self defense solely. I have had to pull mine twice and both times it was necessary. Both times in downtown, but trust me downtown isn't as bad as Bankhead Hwy. right around 285. Unfortunately, Atlanta has a lot of bad areas that weren't so bad 3 to 5 years ago. For more info on every state's laws, you can check out www.packing.org , a very good site for questions on what's legal in each state. While most of us are talking about carrying local, you have to think about when you travel as well. When I went to New Orleans, a month after Katrina, I felt it very necessary to take my gun with me down there for obvious reasons. The place we were working on, was completely deserted for at least 7 to 8 miles.

Jeff, I'm surprised that anyone actually challenged you, you're a pretty big guy to start something with :)

I'll add in my opinion. I used to work security in a heavier crime district in downtown Atlanta. Through my experience I learned a couple of things. If you're ever in a situation where you think things might get ugly, never let your fear get the best of you and don't lose your head. First and foremost, do whatever possible to leave the situation even if it means giving up some pride. As for personal protection, an asp baton and a taser aren't the best of defenses. Think proximity. You are going to have to be within arm's reach of your suspect in order to disable him with either of these. That puts both off my list almost immediately. Pepper spray or OC, I believe comes in different percentages. I would be more prone to use this as a non lethal alternative if you don't want to carry a gun. The pepper spray is pretty effective on most people with the exceptions of a couple nationalities. You will cause the person to forget about harming you and trying to find water will be their new objective. Some of these even leave a red mark on the sprayed substance, so if the police are searching for them, it makes their job easier. Personally, I choose to carry a glock pistol. I believe that a gun is the most effective form of personal defense. I would say, get your CCW permit (costs about $50) first. The problem with using something less than a gun, is that if your held up or put into a situation and the attacker has a knife or a gun and you pull pepper spray or a baton, you might not live to tell about it. I've been in a couple of situations where I'm very glad that I had my gun. My wife is also well versed in how to use it. We go to the range every couple of months for practice. If you aren't sure or have never handled a gun, come down to Fayette and I'll be glad to help you out. Hope that helps you make a better decision. I will have to agree that Metro Atlanta isn't as safe as it used to be.

I had planned on not jumping in on this thread, but this paragraph gets me too worked up. Raise minimum wage? Who's going to pay for that raise? Mimimum wage jobs were never meant to be career positions. When I graduated high school and decided I wasn't going to go to college at the expense of my parents, I worked a couple of minimum wage jobs. I learned a valuable lesson here. I don't want to work for minimum wage the rest of my life. I then decided, to work hard enough and save that money up to pay my way thru tech school and learn a decent trade, computers. From there I was able to land a job in corporate america. Raising the minimum wage isn't the answer. It's just like the poor guy who wins the lottery and then spends all the money in a year or two. The wage increase isn't going to solve his/her problems. The solution to the problem lies with the individual. It's up to the individual to save their money and put themself into a better situation. The bigger question, is why are they in a minimum wage job to begin with, if they are over the age of 25? The solution is to take some responsiblity for your actions and do something about it, not rely on the government to make wage increases. And to clarify before anyone wants to tell me I had to rely on something to make that happen. I've never taken money from my parents, all my vehicles have been paid for by myself, I've lived on my own after I was 23, sometimes having to work 2 to 3 jobs. I had too much pride to take handouts from anyone. I feel that I'm a better person, knowing that what I worked hard to create was my own, because of my own hard work.

Not to try and steal the thread but you're right, the roads do suck badly! Here's a picture of my grandma's road in N.O. East before Katrina.... it speaks for itself...

Here in Fayetteville, Ga the gas prices were $2.18 and I saw it as high as $2.38 in some other parts. This link here will show you the different states gas prices: http://www.gasbuddy.com/ .

I've attended several of Rowlett's and I also attended the one Roger and Celeste had last year in NC. I've taken a lot away from every single one. I enjoyed meeting many of the owners that are on these boards and I've made a lot of friends as well. There's nothing quite as good as making a contact as you never know when you'll need someone else's point of view or perspective on a job. At least for me anyways. Even though sometimes I have to travel a couple of hours to make one, I'm more than happy to. So far I've been to Murfreesboro,TN (Rowlett's) twice, Albany, GA (Scott & Angela's) once, Graham, NC (Roger & Celeste) once, Lawrenceville, GA (PWNA GA) once, and Fayetteville, GA (Rowlette hosted one at my home) once. I can't wait to attend another.

You like that Phil? It's obvious I have a little too much time on my hands at my full time job sometimes. I don't know how it is referred to up in the northern part of the US, but down here, it's referred to as pressure washing, and rarely power washing. I've had 2 of my customers tell me they found me on the internet. I was a little shocked, but both times, it was a female who was at work and searched for pressure washing in Atlanta. My next venture is probably Google AdWords. I've been researching them a good bit. You guys should take a look at it when you have some time. John W. Superior Pressure Washing Fayetteville, GA

jnoden, I think I understand your question. I'm assuming either you bought Sunbrite's or Rowlett's Citrus Cleaner 55 Gallon Powder Mix of Citracleen or Citrus. If you bought that powder mix, you're going to have to initially mix it in a 55 Gallon Drum, there's no way around that, that I'm aware of. I bought Rowlett's Citracleen 55 gallon mix last year. I mixed it into a 55 Gallon Drum. Once you have it mixed in a 55 gallon drum, then you can make 5 gallon buckets with it if you like. If you try and mix it any other way initially, it will not work. Hope that helps. John W. Superior Pressure Washing Fayetteville, GA

Hi Lynn, Glad to see you were able to get a washer finally! Sounds like you're ready to get in business with that thing. I found this on the web: http://pressurewash.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=48&products_id=215 or you could try www.generalpumps.com and look it up there probably. Good luck Lynn, and if you ever need anything, Philip Doolittle and I are just a county away. Take care, John W. Superior Pressure Washing Fayetteville, GA

Especially the bird's eye view for some areas, that gives a 2d/3d view of the homes. Google Earth can't compete with this! John W. Superior Pressure Washing Fayetteville, GA

Tom, I believe one of the main uses is to remove rust on concrete. I know it can also be used to brighten concrete, but I don't believe you would want to use it on an entire driveway, it would be much to costly. If you search for Jeff LeCour's post on oxalic, he usually recommends mixing 4lbs. to a 5 gallon bucket of warm water and then using it in a pump up sprayer. I also know that it's used in decks, but I'm not a deck guy, I'll leave that part to a deck person to answer. Hope that helps. John W. Superior Pressure Washing Fayetteville, GA

Hey Mike, Could you possibly post a picture of your downstream setup? I'm more a visual kinda guy, it would help me tons to be able to see what you all are talking about. I've only used the xjet to clean homes with and am very interested in getting a downstreamer setup if it's as good as you say it is. Thanks, John W. Superior Pressure Washing Fayetteville, GA

John, I also have used the citracleen mix for close to 3 years and have never had any problem like you are mentioning. When I go to give a quote, I usually walk the perimeter of the home with the homeowner beforehand and look for any 'trouble' spots. I also take digital pictures of the entire home before I do each job. This serves 2 purposes. 1.) To CYA for stuff like this and 2.) for my portfolio/website. I've been fortunate so far, no complaints, but if it ever does, I'll be able to go back and see the before pictures. Hope that helps. John W. Superior Pressure Washing Fayetteville, GA

Hello All, How often does the fluid in the pump itself need to be changed? I have a general pump and I've never changed the fluid in it. I have changed the oil several times (I've been part time for almost 3 years) but have never changed the fluid in the pump. Looking in the clear window of the pump, the fluid still looks clear. Can someone give me some direction on this? Thank you, John W. Superior Pressure Washing Fayetteville, GA

Hey Richard, Thank you for the reply, I guess I need to change it asap. Thank you very much! John

I have had hot water from the start. I don't use hot water on houses, I don't really see the need and like Ron said, by the time the water reaches the surface, I'm sure it's not really 'hot' anymore. I do however use hot water on all concrete jobs. We do a lot of concrete washing here and I couldn't imagine cleaning driveways, poolsides, patios, walkways, etc. without it. John W. Superior Pressure Washing Fayetteville, GA

Hey Speck, Speaking of Katrinaville, did New Orleans East ever get back up and running do you know? I've stayed over in Covington a couple times, and now I guess every time I go back to see my relatives, I will be staying there, since none of them live in N.O. East anymore. I like it over there in Mandeville/Covington area, seemed like a nice place. Didn't seem like they got much flooding, just a ton of trees knocked down. John W. Superior Pressure Washing Fayetteville, GA

Hey Jim, I wish you the best of luck, and maybe will be able to follow in your footsteps in another year. Keep us updated on how it's going for you. John Werling Superior Pressure Washing Fayetteville, GA