YAY

Just had to post this..  FINALLY!

Beware motorbike riders, Trooper Lu's Garage is a trap!

I don't like writing about negative things.  It doesn't make me feel good.  I like being screwed around even less.  Therefore, the following review for Trooper Lu's Garage, Moorebank NSW:

To make a long story short Trooper Lu's sold me a bike, promised me the world but instead gave me an empty pocketbook and more than 3 months of stress and run around.

It started with the purchase.  I found the perfect bike!  A simple 2 stroke race bike which was a demo up for sale.  When I spoke to the business owner, Justin Chisholm, he told me he could sell me the bike for a few hundred dollars less than what was advertised.  Fast forward to purchase time - he retracted his offer to sell for less because 'it was a mistake on his part' and pointed out there was some damage to the fairing that occurred in transit...  I was disappointed but my heart was set so I signed the dotted line and entered into what has proved to be a terrible relationship with a dishonourable business run by a two-faced liar.

I am a trusting person.  I believed everything the business owner told me.  I even wrote a nice review about the shop and called it a breath of fresh air.  Even later when they got me a jacket for what they said was a good price and I found it online for cheaper I thought that it was an honest oversight and appreciated their effort.  Even after the business owner backed his van into my partner's bike, sending it onto its side causing hundreds of dollars of damage and ruining his helmet I played fair and took responsibility for my partner's error in parking too close to the van.  I was promised a new brake lever (a fraction of the total cost of repairs) and 'a good price' on his helmet.  Neither was delivered or even so much as followed up on.

Fast forward several months.  The warranty on the bike has just ended.  It's having charging problems.  I bring it into the shop and leave it in their hands after doing my own research as to what the problem could be. They come up with the same answer as I:  it needs a new regulator.  My simple 2 stroke 125cc 2009 Cagiva Mito SP525 spent 3 months in their shop waiting for parts and warranty requests and they swore they were doing the best they could.  I ended up sourcing the part from overseas myself and had it there in 5 days.  When I called to check that the part had arrived, it apparently had but there were a few bikes to be worked on before mine... But they were doing the best they could...  So finally, FINALLY I went to pick up my bike and I was stunned to find a 500$ bill including 3.5 hours of labour.  I was quoted 200$ less over the phone just days before.  My dissatisfaction was met with excuses and defensiveness.  I was promised a phone call from the business owner.  It never came.  Honestly I was just glad to be done with the whole ordeal and have my main mode of transportation back even if I was out of pocket a little.


Guess what.


2 days later the bike was not working again.  Exactly the same problems as before.  I ran the same tests as I did 3 months before.  I checked the voltage going to the battery at idle and it was giving the exactly the same readings as it had in the first place.. it's not holding enough charge to keep the bike running.  I did a quick parasitic drain test and found it and its source.  I know very little about machinery but the hour I spent with google and a multi meter told me that my bike should have never left the shop because the new regulator was not the answer to the problem.  Imagine my frustration.  I had just paid 500$ for parts and services that did not solve any problem whatsoever.  It was now time to be upset.

When I called and spoke to the business owner to tell him my bike was not running again, he sighed and swore in apparent frustration.  I expected somewhat of an apology or at least a little bit of concern, but instead he gave me excuses and reasons why this and reasons why that and spent 30 mins talking about various nonsense.  He told me how other business don't even take on electrical work and it could take 12 hours or longer to find the source of the problem and I would have to be charged for that.  He told me that the mechanic had been rude to me because I'm American (yes he actually said that) but it wasn't his fault because he's a country boy..  It was not a professional consumer-trader conversation.  I felt like I was trying to plead my case in court.  In the end he offered to come pick up my bike free of charge so that he could work on it himself, but reiterated that it could take infinite hours to find the source of the problem and I would be accountable for that time.  Ultimately the business owner communicated to me that they were in no way responsible for my lost time and money.

Is this the way we do business these days?

When the bike transport company called to come and pick up my bike to take it back the shop, I apologized to them and said I did not want to send the bike back to the shop.  I ended up sending an email to the business owner asking for the bike to be re-examined and fixed free of charge since I had already paid for 3.5 hours of service that did not produce a solution.  I asked for transport both ways free of charge since I had already been there and back to pick up a 'fixed' bike.  I asked for a new battery, a time line and to approve any repairs they might make and in response I received an email which included their lawyer's contact details and refusal to provide any further service on my bike.  The business owner informed me that he would be 'returning the bike to me at no cost' and that he had spent enough time on the bike...  My bike was downstairs in my garage at the time since I had not let the transporters take it.  Clearly he knows what goes on in his own shop!  He asked me to stop trying to telephone the store after hours to leave messages.  As far as I'm aware, I haven't done that.  I suppose I would be paranoid after ripping a customer off as well.


So the details are long and plentiful but ultimately I feel disregarded and used and unimportant and I feel it necessary to let others know of my experience.  Trooper Lu's Garage has half the equation right -- they promise to look after their customers and make them feel like they will be treated as valuable clients.  Unfortunately for Trooper Lu's, they are missing the more important half of the equation.  If a business does not deliver what they promise, eventually those with bad experiences will start talking and word will travel.  In my opinion, Trooper Lu's Garage is just another shop full of average dishonest mechanics run by a dishonest man who is a great actor putting on a great show to get the sale and make a quick buck.

I'm on a Diet So I'll Have a Large Skim Latte with 2 Sugars. And That Muffin, thanks.

The notorious cup of coffee.  Let's name its purpose.  A swift kick in the pants to start the day.  A pick-me-up in the afternoon.  If you do your research like I do, you will know that caffeine has been proven to increase mental performance in the short-term.  So starting your day with a black coffee or gulping down an espresso in the afternoon to increase focus is not a bad idea.  But if you like to add milk and sugar and you're trying to lose or maintain your weight, that coffee is working against you, even if you choose skim milk!

I can't tell you how many times in the last 5 years I've made a skim coffee with 1 or more sugars.  Especially around the beginning of the year when those new year's resolutions are in high demand.  These uninformed individuals think they are doing themselves a favor by cutting out calories from fat and then adding sugar since they do not prefer the taste of skim milk coffee.  What they don't know is that consuming more sugar can be just as upsetting, if not more, to their goals of weight loss.

Let's take a more in depth look into this.

1 cup of whole/full cream milk = 11-13g of sugar & 140-150 calories
1 cup of skim (non-fat) milk = 11-13g of sugar = 85-90 calories.

1 level teaspoon sugar = about 4g of sugar
1 g of sugar = about 4 calories

1 cup of black coffee = 0 sugar, 0 fat, 2 calories

As you can see, although drinking skim may reduce your fat and calorie in-take, you are actually drinking the same amount of sugar as in whole milk.  If you are indeed the type of person who is drinking a skim latte with 2 sugars on the way to work, you've just consumed around 20g of sugar for breakfast.  Nearly as much as one cup of coke at 27g of sugar.


It is a generally accepted that consuming "too much" sugar is not healthy.  On a basic level, one reason is because sugar contributes empty calories to your diet.   An empty calorie is a calorie that is void of nutritional benefit.  On a more complex level, another reason is because consuming a lot of simple carbohydrates such as sugar increases your blood glucose level which inhibits fat loss which can lead to obesity.  As your blood glucose level rises, your body produces more of the hormone insulin in order for your body to absorb excess glucose.  At a certain point, this increase in insulin will tell your body to stop burning stored fat as an energy source because it has enough fuel (carbohydrates) readily available to burn instead.  This is one reason why many choose to follow low carb diets.

Let's not forget the "sugar spike."  Foods with a high glycemic index, like sugar, cause the level of glucose in the blood stream to increase dramatically over a short period of time which can send the pancreas into overdrive to produce a lot of insulin.  This tells the cells in your liver, muscles, and fat tissue to start absorbing the glucose quickly and in as little as 30 minutes can leave your body with low blood sugar levels which causes a myriad of undesirables including hunger, fatigue, irritability and decreased mental focus.  

Not exactly what you wanted for your $3.50?  Then here are my suggestions:  Skip the sugar, and drink your coffee black if you can.  Or better yet, trade your morning coffee for a breakfast high in protein and complex carbohydrates.  Try an egg-white omelette (4 egg whites + 1 whole egg) filled with chopped broccoli.  If you're short on time, a protein shake and an apple will also deliver sufficient energy and focus to get you well into lunch time.  If you need an afternoon snack, try a small handful of almonds, or a half a cup of natural yogurt with berries.  If you can't forego your sweet milky addiction, you can make it a small or reduce how often you have one.  Your body, your mind, and your colleagues will thank you for it

My Brain is Full. Can I Buy Some More Memory?

If only.

I look at the 3 terabyte hdd sitting there mostly empty and unused, and think about how useful it would be if my brain had memory expansion capability.  I am not saying my memory is bad.. In fact, when I need to remember something like a phone number, account number, or where I stored the bike polish I swore I'd use every week, I usually can.  But it could be better!

I am still young and enthusiastic about life and learning.  Often times I will read some great information and file it away for later, in some distant quadrant of my mind.  I know I will retain that information for quite some time, just in case I need it.  In other instances I read something, try to convince myself that I should remember it, and then struggle to hold onto it like trying to hold onto room temperature jell-o.

Even more frustrating are the times when I know something and instead of doing what that knowledge should inspire me to do, I act the opposite.  A classic example:  I know I should exercise today but I am not going to because I am not feeling up to it.  Of course I am aware that once I went to do that exercise I would feel amazing and so on and so forth, yet I cannot seem to bring myself to do it!  Oh, how I hate fighting with myself.

Then there are the times when I really wish I had a scrolling reminder system glued to the back of my eyelids. It would read:  Wake up happy.  Think positive.  Feed fish.  Do something for yourself.  Be happy at work.  Tell partner how much he means to you.  Don't forget to go shopping.  Don't forget shopping list.  Exercise.  Stand up straight.  Be humble.  Think before you speak or act.  Respect your elders.  Tell everyone how much they mean to you.  Appreciate everything that anyone does for you, really appreciate it.  Don't judge.  Floss. Did you exercise yet?  Etc. Etc. Etc.  How am I supposed to remember everything all at once!!

So maybe I just need more RAM.  More juice to process everything I need to process all at once.  Through years of experience, learning, and shaping I have acquired so many tips for living life to the fullest that I feel I cannot possibly entertain them all at once, however much I wish I could.  If anyone has found the solution to this, I insist you share.  Or else.

Pizza boxes just may be the answer to your questions.

My boyfriend said to me today, "You can't put pizza boxes in the recycling bin."


When I asked him why I couldn't, he told me something about how food and cheese and grease remain on most pizza boxes and they can't be recycled.  I persisted to find out the source of this information, and finally he told me that the powers-that-be at his old apartment complex issued a notice advising tenants that the rubbish removal team will not be picking up any recycling bin that had pizza boxes in it.


Now, I am not one to argue (no woman is, of course!) however when I pursued the matter with rebuttals such as "we have received no such notice from our building manager" and "if one pizza box is too dirty, surely they can separate it from the rest, as is included in the job description, I am certain" and so forth, I was met with responses that told me that he, the love of my life, was not going to budge.


Of course the subject had transgressed way past pizza boxes.


Now we are talking choice, and blind leading the blind, and laziness, and conveniences, and grey areas, and creating jobs vs creating work and bla bla bla...


Funny how a pizza box can make you think.