So tired right now. I’ll be in bed by 11! Yay!
I have until like 2:30 to cancel my trip down under with a full refund, but… I’m gonna sleep through that deadline and… go on the trip. 🙃
I only got like 3 hours of sleep last night, so I’m looking forward to crashing. I don’t have the bounce back I used to have when I was younger. 🙂
Yay, sleep!
Summary:
Six cars. Just shy of 10 billable hours. Much better than yesterday.
…
I keep nodding off just as I was about to do something. 🙃
First car was a 2018 Nissan Frontier that had been in a wreck. The gentleman had bought it from the auction, but I didn’t know how to fix the accident damage that hit his front driver’s suspension components.
So Malaki and I showed up, and we got it put back together. We didn’t do all of it, as we had a super full day, but I got all the parts back on to the point that they just needed to be torqued. He’d badly damaged some components in his unsuccessful efforts to
…
Nod… and even starting a dream. Just takes seconds. Crazy.
He was trying to put new parts on to replace the broken stuff, but it was more than he could do, so I did all the heavy lifting (getting the parts to go on and in their proper places.). Now he’s set to go.
Second car was a 2012 Fiat 500 that I diagnosed the other day. Today we replaced the alternator. The job had a few sideways moments, but overall, we got it done and fixed. Wahoo!
Then there was a 2009 Dodge Ram 1500 with a burned up starter. The guy had car repair insurance, but it acts like health insurance, I guess. I submitted the estimate (by that time, we’d already finished fixing it), but they wouldn’t cover the cost. They were like, an OEM starter lists at $115.
In their dreams. I wouldn’t be surprised if an OEM starter is actually $500. Anyway, the max they would pay me for the starter was $150, which might well have been less than DIY price at the local AutoZone. Pretty ridiculous. First and last time I’m going to accept auto repair insurance. Good gravy. I’ve never done it because i didn’t want the hassle, but apparently my “feel bad for your situation” heart is on full overload, and I’m letting myself get talked into sob stories and whatnot.
Fortunately, I didn’t with the guy with the BMW who wanted to pay with payments. I hemmed and hawed, but I finally just said “no.” Too many people just disappear and don’t pay. I don’t want the hassle of writing up legal contracts, etc. Just the time alone that it would take to arrange payments, collect payments.
Man, nodding off so blasted much. It’s 10:59 now!
Anyway, fixed the starter, didn’t even bother fighting the insurance company on their ridiculous prices, just accepted what they gave me, and we headed off to car #4.
Car #4 was a 2019 Dodge Charger 6.4 with a coolant leak. Turned out to have a super badly leaking water pump (like the Ford Escape from yesterday, I think it was). It donned on me, given the mileage on the car, that he could get it in for free as a warranty repair. It took calling a few different dealerships before I was able to track down someone who actually would answer the phone, but I found someone, and yes, his car is under warranty, so he doesn’t need to pay me to fix it.
Nice.
Except… he texted me a couple hours later and said that all the dealers are booked back at least 2 weeks, and he needs it fixed now, so he’s asking for a quote for us to do the job for him.
Poor guy. I’ll get him the quote tomorrow.
Fifth job was a 2009 Lexus RX350–another badly blown water pump. And now is the reminder that often times problems come in multiples. I regularly have it happen: I won’t have a particular issue for a long long time. Then all of the sudden, I’ll have a few/bunch all at once.
So… it’s water pump week.
I guess.
On the Lexus, it’s a big job, so I’m going to get them a quote as well and try and decide if I want to do it. We’ll see. It’s a good-paying job (nearly 4.5 billable hours on its own). We’ll see.
Car #6 was a 2015 Jeep Patriot that wouldn’t start. It just had a dead battery and a super-corroded battery cable connection that was so bad we didn’t even remove the cable end from the battery, just unbolted it and left it on the battery. 🙃
Home. Food. Journal. Bed.
It’s 11:11.
Sleep time.
Love and hugs.
Lift the World
~ stephen
Lift the World 