This thread began as a means to discuss the issue of Sunset zones. The secondary motive was for me to try to explore the notion that elevation is a factor to RMG but not the only factor. Over the course of looking at climate data, I discovered that annual precipitation and the time of its occurrence may be a defining feature for the RMG region. Aridity cannot be the only determinate or wed all be over in the Southwest Gardening forum. Previous and somewhat naively, I had thought that these evergreen mountains here and there indicated that there were areas with rather high rainfall amounts - what hadn't quite sunk in was that while that is true, these areas were all at elevations where gardening becomes impossible. I began wondering if a particular native plant species was representative of the broad RMG region. I'm no expert on native plants so this was a fun exercise even if it doesn't appear to be absolutely successful (perhaps, an impossibility). It seemed to me that the Arrowleaf Balsamroot was most broadly representative. I'm hoping that other gardeners are giving this some thought and will comment. By way of encouragement, my question now is - what the heck is this plant whose image is used here on GardenWeb to represent Rocky Mountain Gardening: Steve

Do you want to actually talk about why this happens? Quote" Also, observing the caliper and turning or replacing the rotors is all 99% of shops will do if you pay them for it. I'd bet a high percentage of those will screw it up again while putting the wheels back on. " There is a cost for trying to be too cheap, and sure I'll get all kinds of responses where everyone will want to point out how expensive they are sure a shop is, but the facts are that is exactly how pressure has been applied to shops and techs for decades, and has forced auto repair to be artificially under-priced. In short, everyone tries to go too fast and be cheaper than the other guy, and eventually something (quality) has to suffer. Quote" Last time I paid a shop (all ase certified mechanics) to do something for me was to replace the heater core in our '98 durango. Air out the vents has been reduced to zero on the right side, 25% in the center, and to 75% on the left side. In other words, they screwed something up. Was the problem evident right away, and did you go back? Having done several AC/heater repairs on these I can tell you that something doesn't add up and I would have to see this myself in order to get to understand the symptom as you have reported it. Another thing, ASE certification is a start, but to truly be able to work fully with today's cars requires tons of continuing education, and an ever growing expense in equipment. Which again is part of the problem where everyone tries to be too cheap. The shop might have one true master tech, that everyone else has to rely on when problems occur. However did you know there are more lawyers in the state of New Jersey, then there are ASE CMATs in the entire country? Today there are between 600 and 700 registered cars on the street for every CMAT. That number is going to get uglier as my generation retires in the next ten years because the 50+ group makes up more than 70% of the CMATs! Quote" IF we ever get our house sold, and a new one built, and my new shop built, the Durango is going on the rack to be gone through stem to stern by me." If your that capable, instead of building a house that I can't understand the need for, why don't you build a shop, hire AND train techs to work to your high standards and show the rest of us how it should be done. If your as good as you imply you should be able to make a fortune. (sarc*) BTW, prior to doing any brake repairs, one should pull the calipers and gently tighten two wheel nuts, and install a dial indicator and measure the run-out on both sides of the rotor. Mark the high spot on the rotor, and where that high spot is on the hub. Now when the rotor is moved to the lathe, ensure whether the high spot marked on the rotor while it was on the car is still the high spot now that its mounted on the lathe. If it is, your probably good to go, if its not then you need to find and correct for the run-out at the wheel hub assembly. Sometimes that can be as simple as re-indexing the rotor when you put it back on. Other cases require shims that go between the rotor and the hub, or machine the rotor on the car which automatically corrects for run-out. This is what HAS to be done to correct your HHR's issue. Unfortunately, flat rate techs aren't paid to take steps like this, because as you said, some 99% of the time all they do is simply slap on a new rotor, or machine it off the car and stick it back on the car and that is sufficient to solve the problem. But the one time that it isn't we get to see complaints just like yours, its only then that the car moves to the more experienced technician. If you see a tech that measures rotor run-out when assembling every car, you have one who will be slower than average, but have fewer comebacks which means, you should and will pay more than average for his/her work. You cannot call the shop and ask "how much is XXXXXX" first and find them.

Great pics. You can tell he really enjoyed it. Thanx for sharing. My Daddy was Airborne and quite a few of his grandchildren inherited his adventurous nature toward jumping. I tease my son, nieces and nephews telling them that I am glad that "insanity gene" passed me by. I am adventurous as long as my feet are on the ground. I figure the "Good Lord" said " Lo I will be with you always"...........I don't remember reading where he said anything about High. ;^)

Sorry, just took a look at this thread again and noticed your question...by the time I got to Miele, I had decided on induction, so I didn't give the Miele an actual test drive. I did give it a pretty thorough inspection at the Miele place, though, and thought it was a very sexy range -- and the performance seemed very similar to the Wolf dual fuel. I say that b/c the Miele also has the stacked burners, which I really liked, but the BTUs are higher than Wolf (which top out at around 16k, I believe -- Miele was closer to 20k or so -- I can't quite remember). The Miele ovens on the 48" range were very nice -- the smaller one is a speed oven, and the bigger one is a regular convection. The speed oven wasn't a big plus for me personally, since I really wanted a steam oven as a second oven, but there are people on this forum who love their speed ovens. One thing I really liked about the Miele oven, which Wolf doesn't have, is the burst of steam option, which is great for baking (you can program up to 3 bursts of steam for up to 6 min. each during cooking). I didn't care that much about the MasterChef options on Miele, but again, others love these. At any rate, the Miele seemed very similar to the Wolf, I liked the steam option on the oven better and liked the Miele burners better (also, if you're interested in a grill, theirs was excellent and seemed very similar to the Wolf, which I think is the best in the business). If I had stuck with a range, I would have been very tempted by the Miele.