Miserable Week...
As they say, "TGIF!" Not that it makes a huge difference, since I still have to come into the shop tomorrow as well. This has been a rotten week, with just all kinds of crap happening - some of it good, plenty of it bad. I wanted to post more in the evenings as things happened, but our internet connection at the farm has become so flakey that browsing the web is nearly impossible. The connection can handle slower text-based things like FurryMUCK, but any of the more intense web-based stuff (like LJ) is pretty much a no-go. This is why I'm taking some time here at the shop this morning to post this before I forget much more.
It's Friday now, and I have yet to see the tractor and haybine here at the shop. I understand that the guys are busy, but c'mon, I've got hay to cut and time is wasting! Every day that the stuff stands in the field, it's losing nutrient value; It's all starting to go to seed, and pretty soon there won't be much left but straw. :P I was out at the estate on Wednesday, and I saw that they've got the haybine and tractor back on level ground, so they've got the hitch fixed. The PTO shaft has been removed, but I don't know yet if they've got it in to Andy's shop for repairs or not. I was out there to see about picking up the hay-rake I bought; I got the tire inflated, got it hooked up to the truck, and moved it about six inches before a loud BANG!! rang out as the inner tire ruptured. Of course, it had to be the inner tire - the one with not just one, but two drive-shafts connected front and back to drive the rake. I could just load the thing onto my flat-deck trailer, but that would require either a picker-truck, or a tractor with a FEL. Neither of which is readily available. :/
Yesterday, I was going through some parts I had bought earlier in the year from Princess Auto. Specifically, I was looking at the air-pressure regulators I had bought, as I am constantly having to adjust the air-pressure to accomodate the oil-extractor. The extractor can handle 100psi max, whereas I normally run full-out at 155psi when I'm using the blow-gun to clean engines. I wanted to mount a small in-line regulator directly on the oil-extractor so I wouldn't have to keep adjusting the main line. I had purchased two half-inch NPT regulators, but it turns out that one of them is a 3/8" unit! Not only that, but it's used!!! Some scum-sucker with balls of cold steel and enough gall to poison an elephant bought a half-inch unit, swapped out his used 3/8" unit, put it back into the box, and took it back to the store! The clerks probably didn't know better, so they just did the exchange and put it back on the shelf! The box was even taped! I've seen this kind of ass-hattery before, but this was the first time I've been a direct victim of it. Now the question is, when I take this thing back to the store with this tale of woe, will they believe me, or am I going to get stuck with it? It's not like the stores are local either; the closest one would be in Regina, which is a four-hour drive away!
There's a snow-blower here in the shop that's been here for a while, needing it's transmission repaired. I finally began to re-assemble it on Wednesday, when I noticed that the drive-sproket didn't seem to be lining up straight. That's when I noticed that many (most) of the welds holding the thing together had fractured! That certainly explains the problem, but it's not good news for the customer. I called him and explained the situation. He said to go ahead and continue to repairs - even if it costs $700 it's cheaper than a new machine!
The customer who brought in that accursed Weed-Eater finally came in this morning to pick it up. I explained what was wrong with it, went over everything with him, and all the while he's nodding and very agreeable - until I show him the final bill, and he refuses to pay it! I've got nearly four days into that damnned machine, and I'm only billing for 1.5 hours - but he refuses to pay! "You should have just thrown it out after one hour," he says. Yeah, like he'd pay me for parts and an hour's labour and not get anything for it? I took a half-hour off the labour to bring the price down a bit, and he begrudgingly paid that. Better that, than not getting paid at all and having to try to sell the thing. The only reason I even entertained that idea was because this guy has some chainsaw-blades on order, and I'd like to make sure he pays for those when they come in. Still, I'll be noting this. Then he grumbles about how it's still hard to start (and it is) and how it should run like new. I reminded him that it's 16 years old, and it's pretty much worn out. The guy's an ass, plain and simple, and frankly I'd be just as well off without customers like him.
To top it off, I'm still feeling ill. I don't know what it is, but it's just making my gut ache. Sometimes it's barely noticable, other times it seems to flare up. There's always this underlying feeling of nausea that lessens or intensifies with the ache. Otherwise, I feel fine. :/
In better news, I've managed to get a few more mowers and engines fixed, and have notified the owners that they're ready to go. Most people here understand what it costs to fix these things and don't have a problem with it - it's just the occasional jerkwad like the fore-mentioned one that make this kind of work unpleasant.
It's Friday now, and I have yet to see the tractor and haybine here at the shop. I understand that the guys are busy, but c'mon, I've got hay to cut and time is wasting! Every day that the stuff stands in the field, it's losing nutrient value; It's all starting to go to seed, and pretty soon there won't be much left but straw. :P I was out at the estate on Wednesday, and I saw that they've got the haybine and tractor back on level ground, so they've got the hitch fixed. The PTO shaft has been removed, but I don't know yet if they've got it in to Andy's shop for repairs or not. I was out there to see about picking up the hay-rake I bought; I got the tire inflated, got it hooked up to the truck, and moved it about six inches before a loud BANG!! rang out as the inner tire ruptured. Of course, it had to be the inner tire - the one with not just one, but two drive-shafts connected front and back to drive the rake. I could just load the thing onto my flat-deck trailer, but that would require either a picker-truck, or a tractor with a FEL. Neither of which is readily available. :/
Yesterday, I was going through some parts I had bought earlier in the year from Princess Auto. Specifically, I was looking at the air-pressure regulators I had bought, as I am constantly having to adjust the air-pressure to accomodate the oil-extractor. The extractor can handle 100psi max, whereas I normally run full-out at 155psi when I'm using the blow-gun to clean engines. I wanted to mount a small in-line regulator directly on the oil-extractor so I wouldn't have to keep adjusting the main line. I had purchased two half-inch NPT regulators, but it turns out that one of them is a 3/8" unit! Not only that, but it's used!!! Some scum-sucker with balls of cold steel and enough gall to poison an elephant bought a half-inch unit, swapped out his used 3/8" unit, put it back into the box, and took it back to the store! The clerks probably didn't know better, so they just did the exchange and put it back on the shelf! The box was even taped! I've seen this kind of ass-hattery before, but this was the first time I've been a direct victim of it. Now the question is, when I take this thing back to the store with this tale of woe, will they believe me, or am I going to get stuck with it? It's not like the stores are local either; the closest one would be in Regina, which is a four-hour drive away!
There's a snow-blower here in the shop that's been here for a while, needing it's transmission repaired. I finally began to re-assemble it on Wednesday, when I noticed that the drive-sproket didn't seem to be lining up straight. That's when I noticed that many (most) of the welds holding the thing together had fractured! That certainly explains the problem, but it's not good news for the customer. I called him and explained the situation. He said to go ahead and continue to repairs - even if it costs $700 it's cheaper than a new machine!
The customer who brought in that accursed Weed-Eater finally came in this morning to pick it up. I explained what was wrong with it, went over everything with him, and all the while he's nodding and very agreeable - until I show him the final bill, and he refuses to pay it! I've got nearly four days into that damnned machine, and I'm only billing for 1.5 hours - but he refuses to pay! "You should have just thrown it out after one hour," he says. Yeah, like he'd pay me for parts and an hour's labour and not get anything for it? I took a half-hour off the labour to bring the price down a bit, and he begrudgingly paid that. Better that, than not getting paid at all and having to try to sell the thing. The only reason I even entertained that idea was because this guy has some chainsaw-blades on order, and I'd like to make sure he pays for those when they come in. Still, I'll be noting this. Then he grumbles about how it's still hard to start (and it is) and how it should run like new. I reminded him that it's 16 years old, and it's pretty much worn out. The guy's an ass, plain and simple, and frankly I'd be just as well off without customers like him.
To top it off, I'm still feeling ill. I don't know what it is, but it's just making my gut ache. Sometimes it's barely noticable, other times it seems to flare up. There's always this underlying feeling of nausea that lessens or intensifies with the ache. Otherwise, I feel fine. :/
In better news, I've managed to get a few more mowers and engines fixed, and have notified the owners that they're ready to go. Most people here understand what it costs to fix these things and don't have a problem with it - it's just the occasional jerkwad like the fore-mentioned one that make this kind of work unpleasant.