"No Replacement for Displacement." - Author Unknown

Saturday, July 31, 2010

Well what will fix this one?

I work in a shop as I've mentioned in a previous blog. My boss is great, a little eccentric maybe, but a good guy. He was a tech for years then bought the shop and is owner/manager. So he comes out and coaches, tell his trade secrets, and keep a general feel for the pulse of shop aned what's going on with each job. Anyway the other day I had a particularly annoying leak on a Oldsmobile Alero that I recently did a lower intake gasket on. So the fact that it felt like it was somewhat my fault was not making me any happier about my situation. I was assessing the situation when my boss wandered by and asked what it would take to fix it. With out batting a eye lash I responded " A block of C-4" ( Now at this point I have to explain I was in the Marines for 4 years of my life. Where they certified me as a breacher, which is a demo expert for getting into buildings.) My Boss smiled and laughed as he said " Yeah but you aren't qualified to do that." I started grinning and he turned to look at me seeing my large grin and then said " Then again. NO. Not even if you are."  Anyway it made me laugh.

So it's been a really long day and I'm bushed so I'm calling it a night.

Going to Work on Saturdays, Not my favorite

You know the old saying " You never know what you had till it's gone." That's what has officially happened to my Saturdays off. I love my job don't get me wrong and I need to work regularly to keep up on bills and such. But man it's hard to find your work ethic and motivation on Saturday morning.Wish i could find something funnier to blog about but I'm getting ready to head to work. So that's where my mind is.

Getting out of bed this morning was hard it was so nice there. Now I get to go see if half the people that have made appointments even show up. It's like the want an appointment till they realize hey it's Saturday and then they just blow it off for more fun stuff. Man I wish I could do that. At least I work in a shop with some good people. Gotta go face the day.

Friday, July 30, 2010

Not sure why I'm doing this but here it goes.

Be warned that you are about to be let into one strange ( as I am often told I am) persons mind. I have a friend a very close friend that has insisted that it would be entertaining to see what goes on in my head and that this is a way to do that. And so here it is my (I hope Kevin Smith doesn't sue me) askew view of the world. I work in a shop where I try to pretend I know what I'm doing 98% of the time. Lets be realistic though no one anywhere really knows what they are doing even 50% of the time. So maybe I'll rant about that.


Lets start with my favorite the Customer. All of them want a ballpark, I keep trying to tell people the Ghosts aren't selling their new field, But that's what they all say. "Give me a Ballpark",but God forbid you look at the car first. You might actually see what's wrong with it and be able to make a accurate estimate. Ahh Estimates, once again be reminded it's never a quote. Quotes are set in stone and we'd hate to be cornered by the ballpark seekers so it's always a estimate to keep that wiggle room.

But you have to love some customers. The little old ladies that call you sonny and think you're like a knight when you just fix some little thing and don't charge.

Or the funny old guys sitting in the waiting room talking about the "Swing he'd like in his backyard" as a cute girl walks out. I don't know I'd like to think the number of jerk customers and great ones are even somehow, but in truth I think it's like 1 in 20 is a great customer. Maybe I'm a cynic but there it is. and I think that I'm done ranting for the day.

Well for my first blog I laid a lot out there. More to come I suppose. Hope it was worth the time.