2020-06-26 — Smashing Records

Hola, mon baratok, frohlichen vendredi! 😊

We still have three more work days in the month of June, and we’re already at 157 cars for the month. That’s 24 more than last month’s all-time record that smashed the previous all-time record for my company. We’re pretty much in max territory for two people, I think. Probably not very sustainable, given the fact that I’m just wiped out all the time. Tomorrow, Monday, and Tuesday are normally our three busiest days of the week, too, so it’s not unthinkable to reach 180 cars for the month!

Nutty.

It almost seems crazy to think that 75 was probably my monthly average only a handful of months ago, and I thought I was busy then! We’re just flying. We did nine more cars today, ranging from plugging a flat tire, to a motorhome that had the drive belt tensioner completely snap off while driving down the freeway, fly off the engine, and cause a blow out on one of the tires of the car they were towing! (Still lots to do on that job. It’s a mess. The tensioner bolt sheared off at the bracket, so it’s gonna be an adventure getting that figured out 😬).

I also helped a gentleman who got himself into a pickle in a storage unit complex trying to replace his wheel bearing. He couldn’t get it out (it was pretty frozen in there), and he’d caused some pretty severe damage to his backing plate 😬. Not only that, but his tie rod was just spinning–the nut so damaged it couldn’t be removed.

I used some old lug nuts and my trusty slide hammer to get the wheel bearing out. Then I used my beefy Milwaukee impact and some good old-fashioned pressure to get the tie rod re-tightened, and then I spent probably 20 minutes trying to salvage his backing plate, because he’d mangled it so badly trying to get the wheel bearing out.

For the backing plate, it took some pounding with the sledge hammer, some taps with a metal rod in strategic places, and some smoothing out and burr removal with my metal file. Once I got the plate and knuckle into what appeared to be acceptable shape, I installed the plate, the hub/bearing assembly, all the rest of the parts he’d taken off to get to that point, and I sent him on his way.

The only other job I did today was diagnosing a car that had the belt come off. It was a frozen compressor that snapped the belt. They haven’t paid yet, though, so we’ll see what happens there.

Anyway, I was dragging quite a bit today. Sooooo tired. It’s 11:39 right now, so that’s better than after 1. I’ll get close to eight hours of sleep tonight. I don’t think I’ll know what to do with myself with that much sleep. 😁

Good day. No fliers. No crazy issues. A few goof ups on my end, and lots of time getting quotes for people on larger jobs (I don’t like quoting larger jobs because it takes so much time to do, and people most often choose not to do the repairs because, well, they’re larger jobs and by definition, are pricey. Sometimes getting accurate info for those jobs takes 30 minutes or longer, and then to have people not want the work… it’s kind of stinky. Yeah… don’t like quoting the larger jobs (AC systems, suspension work, etc., pricey stuff, and most of my customer base is probably middle to low-income, so high three-digit, low 4-digit repair costs get a bit challenging to afford.

Anyway, I’ve been writing in this journal every day now for 90 straight days.😊 It’s been such a benefit to me. Such a benefit. I highly recommend it to each of you if you’re not already keeping a journal. Maybe even do it online to share with others. 😁

#1. I’m grateful that my tech is more interested in fixing the problem than doing quick jobs. We had a customer who wanted two o2 sensors put in, but my tech was skeptical that it would fix the problem, and when he got there, he found that the issue was actually a bad purge solenoid. Saved the customer over $100 and actually fixed the problem instead of just throwing the parts at it that the customer asked me to buy.

#2. I’m grateful that I’ve been able to stay sufficiently hydrated and nourished so as to have my body be relatively normal and not flip out on me. Sure, I’m pretty tired, and my feet were quite heavy for a good portion of my run today, but I’ve been able to survive the hot days, stay hydrated, eat enough, and still get at least some exercise each night. According to my pedometer, I’m averaging about 7500 steps a day for the last week. Not quite the 10,000 step goal I arbitrarily set, but still, not too bad.

#3. I’m grateful to all of the comments y’all posted today. It helps brighten my day and motivate me to continue (not that I’m thinking of quitting writing. Nope… this is probably a permanent adventure, but its encouraging nonetheless).

#4. I’m grateful that I was able to get that gentleman’s backing plate in what appeared to be reasonably acceptable shape.

#5. I’m grateful that my mom’s Durango is still going strong. It acts like maybe it has a coil that’s going out–goes a little wiggity-whack at a certain speed (maybe about 45 mph?), and I’ve had that happen with a coil going bad before. Hopefully, that’s all it is, but it’s championing along just fine.

#6. I’m grateful that after the abrupt slowdown, that we’ve had full days for my tech. I was concerned for a bit. Tomorrow should be another good one for him, I think.

Well all you wonderful people you (oh, and this is what I think about every time I write a phrase like that [I think any family members reading will recognize this]): 😁😁😁

Anyway, folks, it’s just passed midnight now, and it’s time to eat something briefly, take care of my teeth, and crash into bed… probably looking at about 7 hours of sleep, which feels like quite a bit these days.

Loves and hugs.

Lift the World.

~ stephen