2020-09-25 — Yes Man

Well, I’ve fallen a little bit into old ways the last little bit, saying ‘yes’ to so many customers that I’m overwhelmed and swamped by the shear number I’ve committed to, wondering how I’m going to get them all taken care of.

And today the consequences of my poor judgment were compounded when my tech’s wife let him know this morning that he’d need to end the day early, which put me into even more of a bind. With an already massively full schedule, now he was going home early to boot.

It was a rough day.

The first car I worked on… I ended up having to throw up the white flag because what seemed a pretty simple coolant leak from the water pump and radiator turned out to include an additional coolant leak from either the timing cover or the head gasket. That was a ton more than I am able to take on. I was doing really well with that job, too, until I found that additional part out. It was going to be a fantastic money job for me, but… ’twas not to be.

I did get paid for what I did, but I don’t think the customer was very happy (not that anyone is going to be finding out that you’ve got a four-digit fix required.)

The next car turned into a mess as well, what seemed like a relatively simple alternator replacement turned into a bit of a nightmare because it wasn’t the alternator at all (which I didn’t find out until after I put in rather pricey new one). The car had the same issue–low charge from the alternator.

So… there’s an electrical issue somewhere, or the alternator was bad out of the box, which it could be. I’ll find out tomorrow on that what. But I’m guessing either the computer is bad and not regulating the alternator properly, or there’s a wiring issue somewhere in the circuit that will need to be traced down.

Ugh.

The next job was easy, and that was nice. A quick solenoid change. After that was a pain in the patut Honda Odyssey power steering pressure line. It was relatively simple as pressure lines go, but the pressure fitting threads were so tight that it probably took me an hour just to take off and put on the fitting–worried especially when trying to put it on that it was cross threaded. It wasn’t–just crazy-tight threads.

After that, it was a Jeep Wrangler that wouldn’t crank at all. I think it’s yet another one of the cars where the cylinder lock ignition actuator assembly is bad (the intermediate piece between the cylinder lock and the ignition switch. Until the last two weeks, I think I’d only done one of those in my life, but today, assuming my diagnosis is right, makes three more in the last three weeks or so. I postponed three or four jobs until tomorrow. Fortunately, I’d had the presence of mind to tell all but one of those customers that it might end up being tomorrow before we could get to them, and the one I forgot to tell decided to reschedule for tomorrow because it was going to be late at night anyway before I got there.

Anyway, so… having returned a bit to my “yes man” ways has me a bit more stressed lately… And I’ve been a bit less patient the last couple of days… I’ve found myself getting mad at cars (especially that power steering line on the Honda). Let’s hope I can nip that returning behavior in the bud, eh?

I’ll be positive and say, nipped!

And I still haven’t sworn in ages, so that’s fabulous, not even fliers, let alone pre-meditateds.

It’s almost 11:15. I’m tired. Cory is improving, so that’s super good. I’m… sort of wondering what I’m doing with my life. But that’s just a thought of the moment. I’ve got good things I’m trying to do, so… I’ll let that depressing thought roll off my back.

Hard day. Good day. Forward.

#1. I’m grateful to have a successful business such that having more customers than I can handle is the norm.

#2. I’m grateful that though the record-setting day that today could have been melted away with obstacle after obstacle, it was, nonetheless, a very good money day, so that’s nice.

#3. I’m grateful that my little self surgery yesterday didn’t get infected. I’d really know to know what that growth is. I… uh… stayed up later last night, and did more surgery, slicing through another layer of this… growth, and exposing something underneath that I don’t even know what is. It’s not… normal. Sent a picture to my mom, and she said probably best to see a dermatologist. She’s probably right, but doctors… I don’t have any faith in them anymore. I’m the one who has to figure out all my own issues because the doctors can’t figure my issues out. I spend spend spend, and they… don’t help. But… she’s probably right. I might attempt a third surgery. There’s a lot more to this growth under the surface. My first surgery shaved it flush. The second one scooped down a layer, exposing the weirdness that’s kind of like a lava tube below. It’s so weird I don’t even know how to describe it. It’s numb, though, the lava tube. That’s weird. Anyway…

#4. I’m grateful that I’m finding myself craving more vegetables. I’ve been trying to eat a bunch more fruits and vegetables lately, and I’m finding myself craving the good stuff now. That’s nice. I’m might start moving back more toward the veggie diet again. I don’t really eat much meat anyway, but I’ll probably be eating even less as I add more and more rabbit food to my diet. Anyone have any good recipes for green drinks? Fruit based? Veggie based? Either/or? Both/and?

#5. I’m grateful for sleep. I’m getting ready to head to bed. It’s almost 11:30. I’ve not been sleeping as well lately, and I’ve been remembering bits of my dreams, which isn’t normal for me. I usually don’t remember any of my dreams.

Well, my lovelies, I want to add more service to my life. More “lift the world” stuff. I’ve not been doing much of that over the last few months. Well… that’s not true. There’s been a decent amount. It’s just with a few select people, but I feel like there’s more for me to do–something more than I’m doing.

Loves and hugs to all of you.

~ stephen