Originally Posted by djb

your comment made me realize that my crooked valve comment most likely comes from having fixed other peoples bikes with really askew valves, maybe I once misplaced a tube in a tire and it wasnt straight, but I certainly have seen other peoples wheels with really askew valves really forcing the whole valve/tube area. These may have been situations where the tubes were too big for the tire and had been fudged in , folded over or whatever, who knows.

its funny, like fb said, there are many ways to skin a cat and I just have the habit of starting to work the bead in from the valve area and work away from there, finishing up wherever I finish, and don't really think about it.
Its such a mundane action that in the end, if whatever technique one uses works all the time, with direction, with levers etc then great.

its all a ritual aint it, I put baby powder on my tubes before putting them in, or when I put them in a plastic bag with my fixit stuff--does it really help a tube not stick to a tire over time, I dunno, but it does smell nice and now its part of my ritual, hail mary, something of grace....