My Next Day Off

I probably won't work on the switches after braking the dash on the 2007 Silverado. Those parts have not arrived yet.

I'll probably spend a little time in the morning figuring out if the new rear speakers in my truck are crap or if the sheet metal they mount to is vibrating and causing the buzzing noises I'm hearing .

I have not yet decided which machine. You guys can vote on which one if you like. I may ignore you like a true politician, but you can vote anyway.

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I'd go with the Hurco if you can quickly find the problem and order the parts. When I was a project's manager as well as its builder I pushed as much as possible outside the critical path that way. Also I bought what I could and built only the parts that would require too much explanation to send out.

Not sure if I mentioned it here, but I bought the Tormach to do most of the prep work I used to do on the Hurco. The thing is the Tormach is also being used to do primary jobs now too.

Then I fixed the electronics problem that caused me to buy the Tormach, and when the Hurco had its current mechanical failure I started doing heavy work on the new South Bend manual mill. I can actually square blanks to size about as fast by hand as I can on the Hurco. Well and the South Bend is more powerful.

Quickly... That is unknown, and its not an easy machine to get the ball nuts and screws out of. I probably can't afford OEM replacements anyway. I figured to machine my own screws to fit if it needs new screws. I've had the Y out before, and when I got all the garbage out of the ball nut the backlash increased. Oops. LOL. I have an aftermarket screw/nut for it already, but I also want to replace the end bearings and change it to a direct drive instead of a belt drive. The biggest thing is its in the not air conditioned part of the shop, and its way to big to move into the small machine room.

Quickly... That is unknown, and its not an easy machine to get the ball nuts and screws out of. I probably can't afford OEM replacements anyway. I figured to machine my own screws to fit if it needs new screws. I've had the Y out before, and when I got all the garbage out of the ball nut the backlash increased. Oops. LOL. I have an aftermarket screw/nut for it already, but I also want to replace the end bearings and change it to a direct drive instead of a belt drive. The biggest thing is its in the not air conditioned part of the shop, and its way to big to move into the small machine room.

Bob La Londe

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That is an option. My plans have changed for my day off. Mostly I make molds to order. This means I have a lead time of course. Occasionally I'll make an extra. Sometimes it more efficient to make multiples than to make just one. Sometimes I have some extra stock just the right size. Sometimes I just feel like it. Often I will offer those molds on eBay at a higher price for those people who will not wait for my normal lead times. It works. I make occasional sales that way, and it promotes name recognition in my market. Last night a customer contacted me to ask if I would ship right away because they were going out of town in a few days and didn't want porch pirates to have a shot at their package. Yeah, no problem. I printed a label, gathered up some shipping materials only to discover the mold is not on the shelf. I am in the shop this morning, so I can get their mold down before the carrier arrives to pick it up. Of course it uses a stainless steel insert rod and I am out of that size rod so I'll also be running down to the local metal yard to pick up a piece.

So much for my day off.

My plans have changed for my day off...

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At the custom test equipment company "Oh, by the way.." was the code phrase for changes requested after the contract had been signed. Apparently it's common in the auto industry to keep changing new designs and we had to keep up. I learned not to do anything I couldn't undo.

"Oh, by the way," is often a part of a negotiating tactic to get more work for free. I used to run into it all the time in contracting. What I would do when writing estimates is take notes as I went, list the work included, and write down the price all right in front of the customer. Then when they added on more things I put them below the price and billed them time and materials for the extras. When they would throw a temper tantrum I'd show them my notebook. "See, this is what we agreed to at this price. You saw me write it down. All this is extra stuff you asked for after agreeing with my price for 'this' work." After a while I wrote full contracts for everything. Even little T&M jobs.

General contractors will use a different one, "We need you to help us out on this one, and we don't have it in the budget." They wouldn't even have an excuse for why they didn't budget for the extra free work they were asking for. I quit working for general contractors and my income increased dramatically.

You know I think about this and wonder why I can't be like a lot of my vendors and just ignore it on my day off, and then tell the customer, "You didn't expect me to work on my day off did you," in a tone of derogatory disbelief like so many have done to me. Sometimes for weeks because they went on vacation and didn't tell anybody about my order/job.

Mine was "while you are here". Used to repair two-way radios... Customer Acme would request a service call for vehicles 24 and 32 not working. So I get dispatched to work on the two vehicles and maybe stop at a couple other customers in the area. Check with the dispatcher when I arrive and they say "Oh yeah and while you are here would you take a look at 12, 22 and maybe 36 if it's in the yard" AND while your working on these a driver comes up and asks if you're here to check 9, because it doesn't work right 🙄

I've been the business owner most of my career(s), so I didn't mind the extras if they paid for it. I quit working for those who would expect me to just throw in some extra work. One of the things I did a lot was change out alarm batteries. I would ask if there was anything else they need done, and tell them if it was just a battery swap I just charged for the battery, but if I have to look at a device or take a tool out of my pouch its a full service call plus the battery. That way, on site if they hit me with an, "oh by the way," they knew I was charging for it. It was honest, and they actually got a pretty good deal if all they really needed was a lead slap.

Yeah, the difference of being the "owner" rather than the pissant (me) doing the work. It was a contract customer, so they paid a monthly fee for us to maintain their system. It just messed with your day. Spend too much unallocated time on their stuff and still have to visit the other customers you promised see in the area. If they would have been upfront with how many vehicles needed work you could have planned the day accordingly. Just got used to it. Planned on them being jerks...

Yeah, some customers would take advantage of service contracts, or in some cases be wreckless and careless because damage didn't cost them anything. When a tire shop chops through an armored cable with a heavy bead breaker its time to fire that customer. A few times I walked in to talk to see a manager and explain that I don't cover damage caused by negligence and abuse. One tried to tell me they would get somebody else then. I handed them a piece of paper, and said, "Here you can write your prior written notice of cancellation on this. Let me know when you have a new company lined up and I'll reset your service codes to the factory default." They were a customer for another ten years after that. Sometimes I found I just had to set reasonable and fair boundaries with customers.

I had one large family for whom I worked on several businesses and homes. I found things went easier if I priced every job just a little high, gave just a little, and then said ,"I have to feed my family too." They didn't like it if I didn't negotiate a little, but the instant I mentioned family they signed. I probably worked on 20 sites for them over the years. I don't really like doing business like that, but something I had read clued me in that it was a cultural thing with some people. Its not just that they are not cheating your family or that you give a little and you are helping theirs. They are reminded their business is important to my family as well.

Exactly👍 I consider that good business practice. It's foolish to consistently lose money or your employees to "bad" customers. I'm sure if I had worked for you we would have tangled often but in a productive, respectful way😉