Honest mechanic?

In article <wV%se.29038$El.10146@pd7tw1no>,
"shiden_kai" > wrote:

> Don Bruder wrote:
>
> >> For that
> >> matter, why don't *you* open up a $20/hr auto shop? If your little
> >> theories are as right as you think they are, you ought to make a
> >> killing in a very big hurry.
> >
> > Might be a good idea. I've been kicking something like that around in
> > my head for a year or so now, trying to decide if I feel like going
> > for it.
>
> Well, you will be doing it for "love".....not money...that's for sure!
>
> Ian
>
>

Funny thing, that...
Amassing a large amount of money holds no real interest for me.

As long as I've got enough to stay fed, clothed, and housed, and maybe a
few "toys" on the side, I'm happy. The idea of being "filthy rich"
leaves me going "but why? No matter how much I've got (or don't have)
the reality is that sooner or later, I'm going to die, and that's the
end of that. So why should I struggle to pile up a ****load of those
stupid slips of paper, rather than enjoying life the way I want to while
I'm still breathing?"

I guess that makes me some kind of freak...

--
Don Bruder - - New Email policy in effect as of Feb. 21, 2004.
Short form: I'm trashing EVERY E-mail that doesn't contain a password in the
subject unless it comes from a "whitelisted" (pre-approved by me) address.
See <http://www.sonic.net/~dakidd/main/contact.html> for full details.

Don Bruder wrote:
> In article <wV%se.29038$El.10146@pd7tw1no>,
> "shiden_kai" > wrote:
>
> > Don Bruder wrote:
> >
> > >> For that
> > >> matter, why don't *you* open up a $20/hr auto shop? If your little
> > >> theories are as right as you think they are, you ought to make a
> > >> killing in a very big hurry.
> > >
> > > Might be a good idea. I've been kicking something like that around in
> > > my head for a year or so now, trying to decide if I feel like going
> > > for it.
> >
> > Well, you will be doing it for "love".....not money...that's for sure!
> >
> > Ian

I've got good news and bad news.. which do you want first?..

> >
>
> Funny thing, that...
> Amassing a large amount of money holds no real interest for me.

Ok.. the good news first. Amassing a large amount of money isn't going
to be a problem with a shop rate of $20/hr..

>
> As long as I've got enough to stay fed, clothed, and housed, and maybe a
> few "toys" on the side, I'm happy. The idea of being "filthy rich"
> leaves me going "but why? No matter how much I've got (or don't have)
> the reality is that sooner or later, I'm going to die, and that's the
> end of that. So why should I struggle to pile up a ****load of those
> stupid slips of paper, rather than enjoying life the way I want to while
> I'm still breathing?"

But now the bad news.. your expectations on what you'll be able to do
with the receipts from a $20/hr shop rate are.. optimistic. If your
*salary* was $20/hr, it's only around $40k/year.. this is filthy rich
to you?

Good luck,

Jim

>
> I guess that makes me some kind of freak...
>
> --
> Don Bruder - - New Email policy in effect as of Feb. 21, 2004.
> Short form: I'm trashing EVERY E-mail that doesn't contain a password in the
> subject unless it comes from a "whitelisted" (pre-approved by me) address.
> See <http://www.sonic.net/~dakidd/main/contact.html> for full details.

Don Bruder wrote:

> Funny thing, that...
> Amassing a large amount of money holds no real interest for me.

Well, you are not alone. It's of little interest to me too. But
that wasn't really the point of what I was saying.

> As long as I've got enough to stay fed, clothed, and housed, and
> maybe a few "toys" on the side, I'm happy. The idea of being "filthy
> rich" leaves me going "but why?

Who's talking about being "filthy rich"? I don't know what
you think is "filthy rich"....but anyone making even 200K these
days doesn't qualify as "filthy rich" in my books. And I doubt
that you will find many, if any, mechanics making that kind
of money if they work someone else. If you open a shop with
a door rate of 20 dollars an hour, it will simply be an expensive
hobby....not any kind of actual business that can put food on
your table.

> I guess that makes me some kind of freak...

The fact that you understand and acknowledge that we
are all going to die and can't take anything with us qualifies
you as a relative genius in my book. Or perhaps a person
who simply is willing to say what everyone else only thinks.

Ian

> Not sure which field you're in, but I'm a computer tech and a home
> mechanic... and it's definitely a lot messier being a plumber. Can't
> remember the last time I had to wade around in sludge fixing windows.
> Installing Linux doesn't usually result in header burns... I don't need
> eye protection changing a CPU fan.

I work on a research farm.. my 'title' is Mechanic II, but my job
description includes working on facilities and roads. While most of my
time is spent turning wrenches on farm equipment, I've also done
computer support, plumbing and electrical. Today is Sunday.. I've been
at the farm since 8am and left around 1:30pm. Got called in at 9pm last
night; stayed till 11pm.

One of our well pumps had issues.. it's a three phase unit powered by
a rotary converter.. for there is only single phase utility power
available at this point. The starter for the rotary converter went bad
and held the pump running.. I was told that water system pressure hit
120psi. Normal is 60-80psi. Lines started popping. Last night I
determined that the rotary converter starter was bad.. this morning was
rewiring the circuit to allow manual control of the pump to allow
someone to run the pump to water the animals. We still have to find a
leak; we are going from 2/3 full tank to 1/2 full tank of water in less
than 5 minutes, and this is a 3000 gallon tank. The area that this
water system serves is several dozen acres... with more than a mile of
piping.

The computer work is mostly virus removal and system setup.. though
there is talk of stringing fiber in between the buildings. I've
informed that work group that I do have a couple of OTDRs, as well as
some other fiber equipment. No fusion splicer.. yet.

Sure, the plumber might get a messy job once in a while.. so does the
mechanic. 'Puter support is probably the cleanest of the ones
mentioned. For me at least, plumbing is also the least technical of the
three.. so why are mechanics so undervalued?..

wrote:

> Sure, the plumber might get a messy job once in a while.. so does the
> mechanic. 'Puter support is probably the cleanest of the ones
> mentioned. For me at least, plumbing is also the least technical of
> the three.. so why are mechanics so undervalued?..

I think it's some sort of cultural thing...."everybody" thinks
they are an expert when it comes to cars and repairing cars.
Fortunately for technicians, this is slowly going away as vehicles
are becoming so complex electronically that the DIY'er can
do very little these days, other then basic mechanical work.

One of my closest friends (was my best man at my wedding)
is a plumber. Over the years, he routinely wants to charge me
60-80 dollars an hour to "help" me with plumbing problems,
but can't see any reason why he should pay me much more
then 30 dollars an hour to help him with mechanical work.
Needless to say, I don't do much for him. The funny thing
is, he "can't" do any mechanical work, but I've done plenty
of plumbing, heating, and electrical work around my own house.
It's simple work that takes very little to figure out. Even had
the furnace go south, it actually has a very rudimentary form
of "codes" that flash and basically point you in the right
direction. Took about fifteen minutes to figure out the problem,
and five minutes to remove and install the faulty part. No doubt
this will become more complex as the years go on...but the
technology is similar to the early era of computer controls
on cars. I doubt that technicians would have problems figuring
out the furnace, but a furnace tech would likely have no clue
figuring out an electronic problem on a modern vehicle.

Ian

"shiden_kai" > wrote in message
news:FBote.39488$El.9677@pd7tw1no...
> wrote:
>
>> Sure, the plumber might get a messy job once in a while.. so does the
>> mechanic. 'Puter support is probably the cleanest of the ones
>> mentioned. For me at least, plumbing is also the least technical of
>> the three.. so why are mechanics so undervalued?..
>
> I think it's some sort of cultural thing...."everybody" thinks
> they are an expert when it comes to cars and repairing cars.
> Fortunately for technicians, this is slowly going away as vehicles
> are becoming so complex electronically that the DIY'er can
> do very little these days, other then basic mechanical work.
>
> One of my closest friends (was my best man at my wedding)
> is a plumber. Over the years, he routinely wants to charge me
> 60-80 dollars an hour to "help" me with plumbing problems,
> but can't see any reason why he should pay me much more
> then 30 dollars an hour to help him with mechanical work.

I'd just tell him plumbing is easy, the only two things you really need to
know a **** runs down hill and payday is Thursday.

One thing that bothers me seriously though is that here, anyone can repair
cars but you need a license to cut hair. That seems pretty screwed up to me,
I've never heard of anyone dieing from a botched hair cut.... but a bad
brake job on the other hand could result in real problems.
Bob

On Sun, 19 Jun 2005, Bob wrote:

> One thing that bothers me seriously though is that here, anyone can repair
> cars but you need a license to cut hair. That seems pretty screwed up to me,

Hell, that's nothing.

You need a license to go down to the river and fish, but any two retards
who can figure out how to fit tab "A" into slot "B" can be parents.

> I'd just tell him plumbing is easy, the only two things you really need to
> know a **** runs down hill and payday is Thursday.

You forgot 'Hot on the left, cold on the right'

>
> One thing that bothers me seriously though is that here, anyone can repair
> cars but you need a license to cut hair. That seems pretty screwed up to me,
> I've never heard of anyone dieing from a botched hair cut.... but a bad
> brake job on the other hand could result in real problems.

I'm certainly not advocating licensing.. but I do agree that we've got
some real hacks out there. Keep in mind that not only do you have
people who don't know how to repair cars, but you've also got people
who just don't care if they fix it right or not.. just fast. I've
worked with both, and I'd rather work with the one that didn't know
how.. I can train them. The 'I don't care' I don't have much use for.
When you mix the two traits together you get someone I used to work
with years ago.. it was so bad that we named a sickness after him.. it
was defined as 'the unconscious refusal to do the job right'. One of
his classics (he was management's darling) was his speed at tuning up
v6 Ford minivans.. management was always asking why we couldn't do this
as fast as he could.. the correct response being, of course, we
replaced **all** the spark plugs; not just the easy ones.

Jim

> Bob

shiden_kai wrote:
> wrote:
>
> > Sure, the plumber might get a messy job once in a while.. so does the
> > mechanic. 'Puter support is probably the cleanest of the ones
> > mentioned. For me at least, plumbing is also the least technical of
> > the three.. so why are mechanics so undervalued?..
>
> I think it's some sort of cultural thing...."everybody" thinks
> they are an expert when it comes to cars and repairing cars.
> Fortunately for technicians, this is slowly going away as vehicles
> are becoming so complex electronically that the DIY'er can
> do very little these days, other then basic mechanical work.

Even the basic stuff isn't basic anymore.. fan belts, spark plug
replacement.. wiper blades haven't changed much though.
>
> One of my closest friends (was my best man at my wedding)
> is a plumber. Over the years, he routinely wants to charge me
> 60-80 dollars an hour to "help" me with plumbing problems,
> but can't see any reason why he should pay me much more
> then 30 dollars an hour to help him with mechanical work.
> Needless to say, I don't do much for him. The funny thing
> is, he "can't" do any mechanical work, but I've done plenty
> of plumbing, heating, and electrical work around my own house.
> It's simple work that takes very little to figure out. Even had
> the furnace go south, it actually has a very rudimentary form
> of "codes" that flash and basically point you in the right
> direction.

Codes?.. Codes!?!.. We don' need no stinkin codes!!


> Took about fifteen minutes to figure out the problem,
> and five minutes to remove and install the faulty part. No doubt
> this will become more complex as the years go on...but the
> technology is similar to the early era of computer controls
> on cars. I doubt that technicians would have problems figuring
> out the furnace, but a furnace tech would likely have no clue
> figuring out an electronic problem on a modern vehicle.

I've found a bad transformer and bad relay on my furnace.. as you've
noted, pretty much all the work done at our house is by us. One example
that comes to mind is when I found that a mid 90's Saturn non-working
speedometer was because of a bad seatbelt module.. if we can
troubleshoot and fix that, there'e not much in a house that can stop
us.

Jim

Pete C. wrote:

> One note though to a previous post though - since disposal fees are
> generally added as line items on the bill, they can't be used as part of
> the overhead to justify the hourly rate. Not saying that there isn't
> adequate justification for those rates anyway since the overhead for any
> business is quite high.
>

those "shop supplies" charges cheese me off too.
I'd rather pay $125 for a new tire "total cost" then $99 for the tire
and $10 for mounting, $10 for balancing, $5 for disposal fees, $5 for
shop supplies, $3 for air surtax, etc. etc... I know the fees are there,
it just makes me feel "ripped off" when I get a tire mounted for "10
bucks" that ends up costing me "twenty bucks" when I go to pick it up.
Just tell me it's $20 up front.

Ray