Prescott/Prescott Valley "Chat Room" (Chino Valley: apartments, to rent)

[SoManyPlaces]

Just wondering if anyone on here knows someone, or happens to be a mechanic with (or near) 8 ASE certifications and some factory training and can give a ballpark figure on flag rate range?

My parents will be moving to PV and we may decide to move there to be close to them. Yes, we plan to talk with a few auto shops, but most are saying to come on in and we will talk LOL I understand that, but we are in Central TX and my husband can not just pop in or take time unless we have an idea...hence my visit here

Thanks if you can help, and if not, have a great day

[BriansPerspective]

I like Sun Valley Tire and Auto, but I have no idea what their flag rate range is or what a 'flag rate range' IS for that matter. The place is always packed and they're very friendly.

[SoManyPlaces]

Thank you! Knowing which shops are *always packed* is a great place to start I should re-phrase to say *hourly rate* instead of flag rate...it may help get the kind of answer we are looking for LOL

Thank you again, Brian. I hope to see you on the boards here...we are going to try very hard to move to Prescott, although my parents will be living in PValley...I would rather be close to the downtown etc.

Originally Posted by BriansPerspective

I like Sun Valley Tire and Auto, but I have no idea what their flag rate range is or what a 'flag rate range' IS for that matter. The place is always packed and they're very friendly.

[BriansPerspective]

Originally Posted by SoManyPlaces

Thank you again, Brian. I hope to see you on the boards here...we are going to try very hard to move to Prescott, although my parents will be living in PValley...I would rather be close to the downtown etc.

Yes, closer to downtown is nice, since you will be closer to most of the good restaurants and entertainment (except for the movie theater, hockey games, and shows at Tim's). Price typically dictates where people end up. Prescott Valley is typically about $50K-$100K cheeper for a simliar house as compared to Prescott.

[kypeep]

If we wanted to look for homes in the wooded areas of of Prescott, what areas should we be looking? NW, NE, SE, SW?

What are the various pluses and minuses of city water vs. well -- specific to the Prescott area? Fire? Anything else?

Thank you in advance.

[BriansPerspective]

Originally Posted by kypeep

If we wanted to look for homes in the wooded areas of of Prescott, what areas should we be looking? NW, NE, SE, SW?

You will want to look in the south if you want to be in pine areas. The west and north (Williamson Valley) will have juniper and scrub oak. Yavapai Hills and the Ranch at Prescott also have juniper and scrub oak.

Originally Posted by kypeep

What are the various pluses and minuses of city water vs. well -- specific to the Prescott area? Fire? Anything else?

City water will generally always be available when you turn on the tap - even if the power goes out. City water is tested for contaminates. Well water is subject to declining water tables, operational issues with the pump and the lines, and will not be available if the power goes out unless you have a generator or possibly a holding tank. You also have to test the well water periodically for contaminates. The plus for well water is that the only cost (if nothing breaks) is the electricity.

Fire is mostly prevalent in the pine areas, although the junper and scrub areas can certainly have fire as well. The lowest fire danger is going to be closer to the city centers, surrounded by other homes. Then you only have to worry about your neighbor's house catching fire for some random event. That said, it's not like California where fires run through the area every year burning bunches of homes.

In general, Prescott is fairly insulated from your typical natural disasters (flood, fire, tornados, earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanoes).

[wretched wrench]

This sounds a little off the wall, but we had several turkeys, served by several good cooks this year, and thought they were all tougher than last year. Of course, we did not discuss this with our hosts, but just wondering if we are weird or if others noticed the same thing.

BTW, the turkeys did not come from the same store, and were all under 15 lbs. Even our slow mesquite-smoked 11 pounder was tough.

[BriansPerspective]

Our turkey was excellent. We cooked it upside down in the oven at 325 without stuffing in the middle. Maybe the smoker dried out the meat.

[2012FXDC]

We fried ours this year (fryer bought at home depot) and the turkey came out suprisingly good. Last year we tried a smoker but the meat came out too dry. If you've never tried the fryer route consider it next time.

[wretched wrench]

I think you're both right about the possibility of the smoker drying out the turkey. Although we regularly smoke chickens, and we soaked the turkey overnight in the spice brine we always use.

However, that doesn't explain the other two turkeys that we thought were a little tough.