Gentle Readers,
It has been a while and so much has happened, it is a whirl. Production. We are a production facility as compared to a regular body shop. I won't bore you with the meaning of that, but this week Gilbert, a bodyman and his wife had a baby on Tuesday and Les, my estimator had her baby on Wednesday. They were down the hall from each other in the hospital. Now that is production.
I had a painter who started out calling me "Honey". Which if you knew anyone here, it is MISS SHANGRI LA! He then proceeded to change everything and tell everyone, including me, what to do. It went on for a while, and the first time someone said no to him, out he walked. He was a pastor as well! One thing he was, was not a good painter. So, there I was 45 cars and no painter. After hitting the bottle, I got ads out and within two weeks have a great painter now.
During those two weeks, lost money, compressor broke, jump box broke and garage door broke. But, no Man Drama was going on.
Man Drama: (Websters) Hissy fits, pissy moods, snotty behavior snappy, salty remarks brought on when an adult man does not get his way. Can be accompanied by crying, complaining to the boss, paranoia and throwing things. Can be seen most often in a body shop where only one person is creating the drama and it spreads.
None the less, I do not know how to handle man drama. I refuse to listen to complaining for the sake of wining, deal with childish behavior or pat someone on the back daily.
So, out walked the pastor. We had a week and a half of re-do's, and 3 car days. God blessed me with a painter who needed me as much as I needed him. A great painter and an adult.
I am not spending as much time in the back as I used to, but I hear the stories and it seems like there is quite a bit of humor I am missing.
A young man, proned toward behavior of the gang nature snuck in a couple of weeks ago. I had the police throw him out the last time he was here. I say "snuck" in as he came in, got an estimate and paid for the car when I was not here. When he came to drop it off he was acting very cocky and when I finally asked him what he was doing I told him very nicely that I would refund his money, but he would have to go somewhere else. Once again, all hell broke loose. He wanted a piece of me and my off duty officer man stood between me and him while I called 911. As usual, time when by before an officer showed up and then he let us know how the police feel about our shop. This time, unbeknown to him, he was speaking to another officer and not one of my employees. I have tried to speak to the police about this attitude in the past and been blown off and called a liar. Now, Gentle Readers, it is on record. I phoned my personal Lieutenant, (since they think I am such a pain, they gave me a personal officer) I called him and told him what happened and it is the way I am treated often. He said he would speak to the chief and get back to me.......3 weeks and waiting.
It is not all bad, we did a car for a lovely lady who insisted on hugging everyone in the place each time she was in. She seemed to brighten the room and I think everyone appreciated the hugs. We did a 1960 something Beetle bug for a man who called today to just tell us that he loved it. We do around 30 cars a week and call the police about once every three months, so that is not too bad.
Someone tried to get in a door last night at 3 AM. The alarm company called me, I did not get back to sleep, and the police were dispatched. With the alarm blaring, of course they were gone by the time they got here. They want to bill me for a false alarm....I do not think I will pay that bill. Maybe they will arrest me and I can have a day off.
Dave Durango, the compressor man came yesterday to see why the compressor was not blowing as much air as needed to run the shop. Dave stands there and says, can you see what is wrong????? No, Dave. Come on! can't you see what is wrong???? No Dave. He points to a pipe that is sticking up in the air that was attached to the compressor. Oh that. Yeaaaaaa, that. So Mr. Durango fixed it and we had plenty of air.
Customers continue to be interesting. I had a guy pay a large bill in 20's and when I started to count the money, he threw more on the counter. Bless his heart.
Over and Out, Bon Nuite! Shangri La
It has been a while and so much has happened, it is a whirl. Production. We are a production facility as compared to a regular body shop. I won't bore you with the meaning of that, but this week Gilbert, a bodyman and his wife had a baby on Tuesday and Les, my estimator had her baby on Wednesday. They were down the hall from each other in the hospital. Now that is production.
I had a painter who started out calling me "Honey". Which if you knew anyone here, it is MISS SHANGRI LA! He then proceeded to change everything and tell everyone, including me, what to do. It went on for a while, and the first time someone said no to him, out he walked. He was a pastor as well! One thing he was, was not a good painter. So, there I was 45 cars and no painter. After hitting the bottle, I got ads out and within two weeks have a great painter now.
During those two weeks, lost money, compressor broke, jump box broke and garage door broke. But, no Man Drama was going on.
Man Drama: (Websters) Hissy fits, pissy moods, snotty behavior snappy, salty remarks brought on when an adult man does not get his way. Can be accompanied by crying, complaining to the boss, paranoia and throwing things. Can be seen most often in a body shop where only one person is creating the drama and it spreads.
None the less, I do not know how to handle man drama. I refuse to listen to complaining for the sake of wining, deal with childish behavior or pat someone on the back daily.
So, out walked the pastor. We had a week and a half of re-do's, and 3 car days. God blessed me with a painter who needed me as much as I needed him. A great painter and an adult.
I am not spending as much time in the back as I used to, but I hear the stories and it seems like there is quite a bit of humor I am missing.
A young man, proned toward behavior of the gang nature snuck in a couple of weeks ago. I had the police throw him out the last time he was here. I say "snuck" in as he came in, got an estimate and paid for the car when I was not here. When he came to drop it off he was acting very cocky and when I finally asked him what he was doing I told him very nicely that I would refund his money, but he would have to go somewhere else. Once again, all hell broke loose. He wanted a piece of me and my off duty officer man stood between me and him while I called 911. As usual, time when by before an officer showed up and then he let us know how the police feel about our shop. This time, unbeknown to him, he was speaking to another officer and not one of my employees. I have tried to speak to the police about this attitude in the past and been blown off and called a liar. Now, Gentle Readers, it is on record. I phoned my personal Lieutenant, (since they think I am such a pain, they gave me a personal officer) I called him and told him what happened and it is the way I am treated often. He said he would speak to the chief and get back to me.......3 weeks and waiting.
It is not all bad, we did a car for a lovely lady who insisted on hugging everyone in the place each time she was in. She seemed to brighten the room and I think everyone appreciated the hugs. We did a 1960 something Beetle bug for a man who called today to just tell us that he loved it. We do around 30 cars a week and call the police about once every three months, so that is not too bad.
Someone tried to get in a door last night at 3 AM. The alarm company called me, I did not get back to sleep, and the police were dispatched. With the alarm blaring, of course they were gone by the time they got here. They want to bill me for a false alarm....I do not think I will pay that bill. Maybe they will arrest me and I can have a day off.
Dave Durango, the compressor man came yesterday to see why the compressor was not blowing as much air as needed to run the shop. Dave stands there and says, can you see what is wrong????? No, Dave. Come on! can't you see what is wrong???? No Dave. He points to a pipe that is sticking up in the air that was attached to the compressor. Oh that. Yeaaaaaa, that. So Mr. Durango fixed it and we had plenty of air.
Customers continue to be interesting. I had a guy pay a large bill in 20's and when I started to count the money, he threw more on the counter. Bless his heart.
Over and Out, Bon Nuite! Shangri La
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