Gonzo

OMG I'm AN ELF!!! LMAO!! Too Funny.... Thanks for including me... although Joe,... you've got some great dance moves there...

Headlines for the evening news... "The Bronx Santa has struck the mall... details at 6."

Kenny, I wrote this poem... 26 years ago. I guess not much has changed in all those years. LOL

Ode to Santa and the Economy There goes Santa, running for his sleigh; He's gotta run fast, to get away. . You see, the economy has struck the North Pole as well; The elves are on strike, and his wife is givin' em' hell. . These days when Santa appears at the local department store; It's not just for fun or photos, but for gifts he needs to score. . He'll check the store layout and make a quick dash; Why even Santa max'd out his credit card and is low on cash. . So off he goes, into the night; To find those gifts, and get out of sight. Now, he's not going to make a whole lot of stops; 'Cause look out Santa… here comes the cops. . Santa leaps to his sleigh and flys far into the night; Carrying all those gifts, on his yearly flight. . Way into the morning, the police search high and low; Only to find a few tracks left in the snow. . You'll hear all the alarms blaring, late into the night; But old Saint Nick will be long gone, and clean out of sight. . Santa has to be quick, to have it done by Christmas Eve; So many gifts, and so many places to be… The presents will be wrapped, and the tags will be off; Cause old Santa is very careful, not to get caught. . So check your presents, early on Christmas day; (Keep it hush-hush if they're from Santa, OK...?) . Now, I don't know if Old Saint Nick, stopped at your house or not; But If he did … … … … … .....THOSE GIFTS ARE . . . HOT ! ! PEACE ON EARTH, GOOD WILL TO ALL MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! ! ! View full article

Same to You and You're Family. Merry Christmas

Trust the staff ... they are your eyes and ears. I like to think my years of experience can account for a few "now here's how I handle it in the past" type stories... but ultimately... the staff has to make the decision based on the reactions they see in front of them. I agree with ya Joe... stand by your staff and let the chips fall, or fish...

Seen this before. I've tried lots of different approaches. The soft, "Thank you for bringing this issue up and we will be more than happy to take care of the problem." to "I am a professional, and cars are my business. Components and there related systems can and will fail without prior warning. Even with the best pre-inspections there is still a chance of a unknown failure to occur." and of course the responce, "Insulting my help is NOT the answer to getting service at my shop... please take your work elsewhere unless you have the decency to apologize to my staff. They could not foresee or prevent the problem but are very capable of making the repairs." In each case the answer and outcome is different. For some people the more direct approach works, while others want the baby soft ... "awe, it'll be OK" approach. Quite frankly.... if this is the way they want to handle their car problems, chances are they will be like this every time they have another problem. I really believe that some people think a car should just go on forever and never... ever... effect their pocket book. (Oh, and by the way... that's usual what is shouting louder... it's the cost of the repairs as well as the unexpected expense that shouts the loudest.) There's more fish in the sea, you just have to decide if this is one to keep or throw back.

They're everywhere... I tell ya, there gypsy's ! ! !

I'll drink to that.... LOL

laugh.... always... but it's not that easy to remember it's funny at the time. I think these type of customers are like traveling gypsy's. Ya never know where they'll turn up next.

Just another typical day at the shop... LOL

Welcome To My World In my world I run across a lot of people and their cars. For the most part, I really love the people and my job. But, occasionally I have one of those days that just doesn't seem like it's going to be a good one at all. Some days just don't start out that great. You know those mornings when you get up,and the first thing you do is wander through a dark house and jam your big toe into the ottoman, while trying to dodge the cat sleeping on the floor. Maybe it started out terrible with that aggressive driver who just had to pass you with only inches between the door handles, only to swerve directly in front of you… just to gain one extra car length, and by now you've spilled most of your coffee. Grrr… Definitely, not a good start for the day. But be that as it may, I pull up in front of the shop, park the truck and start my day. I'm always hopeful the trend of my early encounters doesn't carry all the way to closing time. Ya just never know. But, the signs... those telltale signs... it doesn't look promising. Anyway, you square your shoulders, take a deep breath, ….and away we go. Every day at the shop is another lesson in life you just have to experience, regardless how your day starts. You can learn a lot about people from standing behind the service counter. It might leave you shaking your head one day, and the next you're looking for something stronger than those aspirins you have in the middle drawer of your desk. Some mornings have started out badly, and only got worse as the day progressed. These sort of starts to my day make the rest of my working hours a challenge to keep my sanity. I thought I would tell you about a few of them. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unlock the front door, sit my stuff down, and the day has begun – Ring, ring, ring, ring…. Caller: "Is my car ready yet?" Me: "Which car is it?" Caller: "The one I dropped off." Me: "Well, I just got here myself. I haven't even looked at a single car yet." Caller: "I know you had plenty of time already. I dropped it off after you closed last night." Me: "Sir, just like you, I went home to my family after work. I don't stay here all night, nor do I come back after regular business hours to work on cars." Caller: "So you're saying that dropping it off last night didn't give you enough time to get it done?" Me: "That's correct. I haven't even brought it into the service bay yet." Caller: "Well, alright then. I'll bring the keys to you about lunch time." No keys, in a hurry, and I haven't even turned the lights on yet. It just keeps getting better... or worse, nice start for the day. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Take this guy who showed up early one day. Customer: "I need my brakes checked. Can you do that today?" Me: "Sure. I'll fill out a repair order, where did ya parked at?" Customer: "Oh, I walked here." Me: "Ah, that's going to be a little difficult to check your brakes if you don't have the car with you." Customer: "How's that? All I need you to do is tell me if I need brakes or not." Me: "When you bring me the car I can check them for you." Customer: "You're not much of a mechanic if you don't know whether I need brakes, or not." Me: "I physically need see the car, so I can tell the condition of the brakes." Customer: "Just never mind then. Do you know another shop that could tell me if I need brakes or not?" I think I'll stop right here. I'm no expert on things like this, but I believe there's a lot more wrong with this character than his brakes. But,life goes on. Can it get any crazier? Yes, yes it can. This next situation has happened more than a few times. Seems like a routine occurrence anymore. Routine for me, but the customer doesn't see it that way. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Another early phone call: Customer: "I'm having my car towed in. It doesn't start." Me: "I'll get a look at it as soon as it arrives." A few hours later the car shows up. The tow driver disconnects it and hands me the keys. It starts right up. Looking under the hood, and doing a few basic tests showed no reasons why it wouldn't start. I called the customer. Me: "The car started right off of the tow truck, sir." Customer: "I'll be up later to pick it up." Me: "No problem, I'll let it run for a while, and take it around the block a few times to make sure. In the meantime the only charges you have so far is the tow." Customer: "It started, so I don't need to pay for the tow." Me: "You still have to pay for the tow, sir." Customer: "I'm not paying for it." Me: "I guess I'll just keep the car then." The customer makes their way to the shop, angrily pays for the tow, and drives off never to be seen or heard from again. I guess the best part was the car actually started, so I didn't have another confrontation in the parking lot. Yep, it just keeps getting better. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Then there's this one... right at opening time … Monday morning... Caller: "I want to complain about my car I had at your shop late Friday night!" Me: "And how's that?" Caller: "You couldn't get the part for my car!" Me: "Yes, that's right, the part was only available through the dealer, and they were already closed." Caller: "I had to take my car to the dealership and they promptly had it fixed!" (It's only Monday morning, how did they get to it so fast?) Me: "Ma'am, that's where we had to go to get the part. It was late Friday night and the dealership was already closed. I'm sorry we weren't able to help you. Sounds like your problem is solved, so what is it you would like for me to do, ma'am?" Caller: "I don't want your stupid apology! I can't believe you are refusing to help me!" Me: "I'm not refusing, Ma'am.I just don't know what it is you want." Caller: "Don't give me that! You're no help at all!" *hangs up* Well, here I go again. It's only Monday morning...I'm going to need a lot more coffee. OK who's next? Bring it on! I'm ready for ya! Working at a repair shop has its good days, and bad. If you don't think your day is hectic enough, or down right crazy at times, just head down to the shop and sit behind the counter for a spell. You'll see, after a few of these wacky mornings you'll know exactly what I mean. Then, I can officially say to you ... Welcome to my world. View full article

For Christmas get her a copy of my book. After she reads it she'll understand.... after she stops laughing... LOL

Golly Gee... I didn't know I did that. LOL Hey, thanks a million Joe... your comments are an inspiration. Thanks buddy

Thanks for posting this link... truly a day to remember.

As long as I get a laugh, or just a smile, maybe even a simple nod of the head... I'll keep writing these stories.

Where Ever You Go... I was asked some time ago why I write these crazy articles about the car repair business. Why? Well, the only way I can explain it is to put yourself in the position I'm in on a daily basis. I spend a better part of my day trying to understand what a customer is explaining to me,while using my training, background, and basic common sense to come up with a logical answer to their problem. This is where these true to life stories all start. Then again, a lot of us "in the trenches guys" (mechanics for short) never have the time, nor realize that no matter where we are in this crazy world... people have the same kind of answers to car repair. During an average day a mechanic might work on vehicles spanning more than 20 different production years. Nothing is ever the same, and nothing ever remains the same, from year to year, model to model, or from manufacturer to manufacturer. These differences can be as varied as the people we meet. Knowing these changes in the car systems can be overcome with years of experience. Knowing how to deal with the attitudes and personalities of the consumer can take a lifetime. The different ways people will explain their car problems to the mechanic can be baffling or even misleading as well. I try never to approach a situation with blinders on and get lead down the wrong repair path. Sometimes, their explanations leave a lot of doubts as to what they really are trying to say. For some people, explaining things isn't easy, so their way of getting their point across is to use an extremely long version of the story or a complete biographical saga from their childhood to the present, just so I don't miss any details. (I would say I've heard it all,but that wouldn't be fair to all those untold stories I haven't heard.) It's hard to remind myself that I'm not going to make a customer out of every phone call, nor patron who comes in the door, but I'm still stubborn enough to try anyway. As one long time shop owner once told me years ago, "Don't do business with people you can't get along with or ones you feel uncomfortable around." I tend to believe that's true after seeing the variety of people I've run across over the years. But, those odd and different personalities and explanations about care problems are the best material for the next new story. Ya never know...the next one through the door might be a real winner. Like I said, some people can't just tell you what's wrong. They have to involve everything from the family pet to their last vacation photos. Believe me, I've sat through plenty of vacation photos, and have heard thousands of dog stories over my years behind the counter. When it comes to explaining things back to the customer about their car there's only so far I can go. I usually try several different angles to bring the technical answer down to a level that is acceptable to the patron,but sometimes their comprehension requires everything from charts, graphs, to hand puppets. Sometimes even explaining things to the customer is a show in itself. Oh yea, it can be just as comical watching me try to explain something as it is listening to their stories. After many years of standing behind the counter, I tend to have a "sixth sense" about the upcoming repair, either from the reactions of the customer, or from the condition of the car. I tend to go back through my memory files and find a situation that is comparable to the latest one. After all these years there's no doubt there are some comparisons to a story I've already put to ink and paper. Writing these stories down also makes it easier to relive those situations, and think of either a better way to handle it, or be aware of the proverbial outcome. In some small way I hope people who read my stories not only see the humor in these situations, but also take away from it a bit of knowledge and respect for these crazy situations. I like to think of it as a life lesson that can't be taught out of the automotive repair manual. But, it's something everyone has or will experience. You could call it a reality check for the automotive world. I write about the everyday events in the auto shop, not some made up management improvement idea that's going to improve your bottom line. I don't try to be something I'm not; I'm only a mechanic and nothing more. I write about the stuff you and I as technicians have to deal with in our daily jobs. Mechanics from all over the world email me, and have no trouble relating to their stories, and you can tell they're smiling while they write that email. It helps everyone realize they are not alone in this wacky world of automotive repair. And that's what these stories are really all about. But, these stories are not just for automotive mechanics, it's something anyone who deals with the general public will enjoy reading. I even have doctors,lawyers, bank executives, roofers, and a whole lot of other professions who read and relate to the stories. When you take the time to really think about it, somewhere in our family tree we all have that crazy relative who has done something weird, or a co-worker whose elevator has skipped a few floors. It might even be something you've noticed on the news or on the drive home… you just never know where the next interesting story will come from. No matter where we are there's always something out of the ordinary going to happen sooner or later. And, as long as that keeps happening, I'll keep writing. I guess there's really only one way to explain people and the crazy situations we all get into.... wherever you go, no matter where you are... something wacky,insane, or downright crazy just might happen. View full article

Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery... today is a gift. Never give up ... this video is an inspiration to us all to act on what we can and never ... ever ... accept defeat. Thanks for posting Frank. Awesome!

Energizer bunny was installed a few years ago...

yeah I've been asked to go to court to myself and I don't mind it. sometimes its a lot of fun. But when they say they know more than I do I know I'm in trouble I very carefully in those single syllable words, graciously tell them I'm not interested.