tuscarora dave
02-18-2012, 02:39 PM
In my time here at the AGOnline discussion forums, from time to time I have shared some insight on some of my personal affairs, goals and ambitions. A lot of what I do has to do with working to bring my once very troubled personal life around full circle and at the same time trying to help the people around me who have their hands out searching and grasping at anything they can get in the way of experience, wisdom and guidance in order to also get on the right path themselves. A lot of folks to a differing degree, come here to AGO in this same state concerning their efforts in getting on the right path where car care and paint correction/detailing is concerned.
Many folks come to this site in a very frustrated and seemingly helpless state, having been defeated in their attempts to figure out just what they are doing wrong with paint compounding, polishing, interior cleaning or just simple waxing. They come on this forum seeking help from the more experienced members. On a lot of internet auto detailing discussion forums I see some more experienced members scoff, judge, ridicule these new members or just plain make some ignorant statement and remain unwilling to lend a hand. At the same time all the forums do have some more humble and helpful members who are willing to help out the newcomer.
This particular discussion forum (AGO) has an awful lot of these humble and helpful members. It is a really nice place to post at and a great community to be a part of. I have seen a lot of new members come here with the expectation of being ridiculed or held over the flames for asking normal newbie questions, just to be surprised at the warm welcome they receive here and the helpful members they find here. I have personally been largely inspired by a lot of the helpfulness and friendliness that goes on at this site. In my opinion, this is where the winners hang out and that's why I stay here and call this site home. However of course, not everyone fits this description and that's just life.
Behind the scenes, I think of how many times over the years I have read a nasty or smug comment in a reply on any discussion forum and wanted to "engage in battle", typing something in retaliation or in defense of the person being bashed or flamed but instead followed the lead of some of the great members here and simply bit my tongue or as Mike Phillips would say "Push away from the keyboard". A lot of the times as we pick up the newspaper or turn on the daily news we see the worst of the worst that people in this world can dish out. Rarely do we see much positive reinforcement from the media. How easy it is to slip into a complacently negative demeanor as a result of what we see so much of on a daily basis. At the end of the day I retreat to my little "man cave", log on to this site and more times than not I am lifted up and empowered by the positive messages being shared here and I try to carry that into all the other areas of my life.
Over the past 7 years I have been hard at work repairing burned bridges, building new ones, learning how to act as to not set the new bridges ablaze, networking with other detailers, new clients, local businesses and above all else trying to remain willing to reach out to those around me who are in need or who are seeking help in any area where I can be helpful. This is not an easy thing to do, in fact it is downright hard and requires a lot of sacrifice. I often ask myself if it's at all worth it and a lot of the time it doesn't seem so but, having been trying to live this way for some time now I find myself in a somewhat unique position where a lot of the people around me are offering up help to me and are ever so willing to give sound advice on things that otherwise leave me perplexed.
As a child, my grandmother used to say this to me, "Dave, if you do bad things in life bad comes back to you tenfold. If you do good things the people who see it will likely be inspired to do good as well but, they'll likely pass that good will onto others and you might never see it happen or even know that it happened, you just need to have faith that you are making a difference in the world and every once in a while you will experience the good will that you are trying to spread". She was a wise woman.
From time to time I get on these long winded posts stating that "I like to write" and this thread is obviously one of those threads.
Thursday I got a call from a past customer who I thought had moved on to another detailer. This man is a "very frugal" type of business man in the bus sales business. A few years ago while laid off from my daily job and refusing to lay around collecting unemployment I simply stopped filing and went out detailing full time for myself and had a great season until winter came. This customer came through a referral from another local business I was doing some non-detailing related business with. The work was restoring the finish on old neglected handicap access buses and vans. The bus sales business owner as I said was really frugal and wasn't willing to pay as much as I thought the work was worth but in a desperate, do or die situation I did the buses regardless of the income thinking that "a few bucks an hour is better than no bucks an hour".
Every time I would work on one of his buses I would be feeling resentful and would play out these scripts in my head where I would double the price on him or just refuse to do the buses for him anymore. Because his business was located just up the street from my home I found that not having to travel made it convenient enough to keep my mouth shut and just keep on doing the buses. I kept on doing the buses until I was rehired by my old employer and then I just couldn't find time to do the buses, work the daily full time gig and grow in my now part time mobile detailing business so I respectfully broke the news to him that I could no longer work for him as it would take from the Benzes and Aston Martins and such that were my targeted market. The whole time I compounded and polished up these ratty old gel coat access buses I watched the father and son team who rented this guy's large garage sit around like a couple of under achievers, refusing to generate enough leads to stay busy and make good use of the garage that I wanted to rent to do detailing out of.
Man I would get upset when these guys would come in and sit around for half a day and just do a few oil changes, replace a few seats or service a wheelchair lift for the property owner then leave at noon. I tried to work out a deal with them so that I could use the garage to detail out of when it was not in use by them but their insurance wouldn't allow anyone to be in the garage when they weren't there. Again I would get all resentful and indignant feeling but would never show it just biting my tongue and seeing them off for the day with a smile and a "good night guys". There was no outside electric at this shop (the bus sales business owner included the electricity in with the rental fee for the garage) and I'd ask them to let me plug my extension cord into an inside receptacle and ask then just to shut the overhead door on my cord so I could come up and polish buses over the weekend and they did that for me. I would gather all my tools, products and other supplies, load them in the van and show up early Saturday morning for a day of polishing buses just to find that they unplugged my cord Friday afternoon when they left the shop for the weekend. Man I would be livid when I got there. With no one there to hear me I'd lash out in a cuss-a-thon and just go back home and try to schedule something else to work on that weekend.
Anyway, back on track...He calls me this past Thursday and leaves me a message saying "Tuscarora Dave...Give me a call, I have some work for you". Right away I thought "Oh Hail No"!!! Thinking of the scenarios I just outlined above. I slept on it and decided to give him a call Friday after work. I've been getting lots of rest lately and with the weather in the 50's this weekend I figured maybe I'd have him put a cord out for me and detail a bus for him and make a little money. I made an appointment to stop by his office just to see what he had for me to do. I get there and after exchanging a few pleasantries he tells me that the father and son team have been evicted and he was about to place an ad in the paper to rent out the garage. He then said that he thought of me and that I might want to rent the garage to detail out of. I was stoked but didn't let him see that, thinking he might put a premium on the rent figure if he knew how stoked I was about it so I calmly said "shoot me a number". I couldn't refuse as the number was well within a doable range. Remember, this place is like a half mile from my house.
So the way I see it, I have this opportunity because despite wanting to cuss some people out over there, I instead chose to follow the lead of the winners here at AG and remain calm, positive and respectful in the face of adversity. Monday I see my insurance guy to make sure I have the proper amount of garage keeper’s coverage then I'll drop the first month and security after that. Then my life will change back to one that is nothing but work, work, work, until I get past the initial financial hurdles of this move. The next few months are going to be tough but I've just worked too hard for too long to pass up this opportunity. Here are a few pics of the outside of the shop and the conveniently busy location. I'll post pics of the inside once I get a key.
http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd323/tuscaroradave/new%20shop/017.jpg
http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd323/tuscaroradave/new%20shop/020.jpg
http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd323/tuscaroradave/new%20shop/019.jpg
http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd323/tuscaroradave/new%20shop/021.jpg
Thanks for reading my long winded post. TD
Many folks come to this site in a very frustrated and seemingly helpless state, having been defeated in their attempts to figure out just what they are doing wrong with paint compounding, polishing, interior cleaning or just simple waxing. They come on this forum seeking help from the more experienced members. On a lot of internet auto detailing discussion forums I see some more experienced members scoff, judge, ridicule these new members or just plain make some ignorant statement and remain unwilling to lend a hand. At the same time all the forums do have some more humble and helpful members who are willing to help out the newcomer.
This particular discussion forum (AGO) has an awful lot of these humble and helpful members. It is a really nice place to post at and a great community to be a part of. I have seen a lot of new members come here with the expectation of being ridiculed or held over the flames for asking normal newbie questions, just to be surprised at the warm welcome they receive here and the helpful members they find here. I have personally been largely inspired by a lot of the helpfulness and friendliness that goes on at this site. In my opinion, this is where the winners hang out and that's why I stay here and call this site home. However of course, not everyone fits this description and that's just life.
Behind the scenes, I think of how many times over the years I have read a nasty or smug comment in a reply on any discussion forum and wanted to "engage in battle", typing something in retaliation or in defense of the person being bashed or flamed but instead followed the lead of some of the great members here and simply bit my tongue or as Mike Phillips would say "Push away from the keyboard". A lot of the times as we pick up the newspaper or turn on the daily news we see the worst of the worst that people in this world can dish out. Rarely do we see much positive reinforcement from the media. How easy it is to slip into a complacently negative demeanor as a result of what we see so much of on a daily basis. At the end of the day I retreat to my little "man cave", log on to this site and more times than not I am lifted up and empowered by the positive messages being shared here and I try to carry that into all the other areas of my life.
Over the past 7 years I have been hard at work repairing burned bridges, building new ones, learning how to act as to not set the new bridges ablaze, networking with other detailers, new clients, local businesses and above all else trying to remain willing to reach out to those around me who are in need or who are seeking help in any area where I can be helpful. This is not an easy thing to do, in fact it is downright hard and requires a lot of sacrifice. I often ask myself if it's at all worth it and a lot of the time it doesn't seem so but, having been trying to live this way for some time now I find myself in a somewhat unique position where a lot of the people around me are offering up help to me and are ever so willing to give sound advice on things that otherwise leave me perplexed.
As a child, my grandmother used to say this to me, "Dave, if you do bad things in life bad comes back to you tenfold. If you do good things the people who see it will likely be inspired to do good as well but, they'll likely pass that good will onto others and you might never see it happen or even know that it happened, you just need to have faith that you are making a difference in the world and every once in a while you will experience the good will that you are trying to spread". She was a wise woman.
From time to time I get on these long winded posts stating that "I like to write" and this thread is obviously one of those threads.
Thursday I got a call from a past customer who I thought had moved on to another detailer. This man is a "very frugal" type of business man in the bus sales business. A few years ago while laid off from my daily job and refusing to lay around collecting unemployment I simply stopped filing and went out detailing full time for myself and had a great season until winter came. This customer came through a referral from another local business I was doing some non-detailing related business with. The work was restoring the finish on old neglected handicap access buses and vans. The bus sales business owner as I said was really frugal and wasn't willing to pay as much as I thought the work was worth but in a desperate, do or die situation I did the buses regardless of the income thinking that "a few bucks an hour is better than no bucks an hour".
Every time I would work on one of his buses I would be feeling resentful and would play out these scripts in my head where I would double the price on him or just refuse to do the buses for him anymore. Because his business was located just up the street from my home I found that not having to travel made it convenient enough to keep my mouth shut and just keep on doing the buses. I kept on doing the buses until I was rehired by my old employer and then I just couldn't find time to do the buses, work the daily full time gig and grow in my now part time mobile detailing business so I respectfully broke the news to him that I could no longer work for him as it would take from the Benzes and Aston Martins and such that were my targeted market. The whole time I compounded and polished up these ratty old gel coat access buses I watched the father and son team who rented this guy's large garage sit around like a couple of under achievers, refusing to generate enough leads to stay busy and make good use of the garage that I wanted to rent to do detailing out of.
Man I would get upset when these guys would come in and sit around for half a day and just do a few oil changes, replace a few seats or service a wheelchair lift for the property owner then leave at noon. I tried to work out a deal with them so that I could use the garage to detail out of when it was not in use by them but their insurance wouldn't allow anyone to be in the garage when they weren't there. Again I would get all resentful and indignant feeling but would never show it just biting my tongue and seeing them off for the day with a smile and a "good night guys". There was no outside electric at this shop (the bus sales business owner included the electricity in with the rental fee for the garage) and I'd ask them to let me plug my extension cord into an inside receptacle and ask then just to shut the overhead door on my cord so I could come up and polish buses over the weekend and they did that for me. I would gather all my tools, products and other supplies, load them in the van and show up early Saturday morning for a day of polishing buses just to find that they unplugged my cord Friday afternoon when they left the shop for the weekend. Man I would be livid when I got there. With no one there to hear me I'd lash out in a cuss-a-thon and just go back home and try to schedule something else to work on that weekend.
Anyway, back on track...He calls me this past Thursday and leaves me a message saying "Tuscarora Dave...Give me a call, I have some work for you". Right away I thought "Oh Hail No"!!! Thinking of the scenarios I just outlined above. I slept on it and decided to give him a call Friday after work. I've been getting lots of rest lately and with the weather in the 50's this weekend I figured maybe I'd have him put a cord out for me and detail a bus for him and make a little money. I made an appointment to stop by his office just to see what he had for me to do. I get there and after exchanging a few pleasantries he tells me that the father and son team have been evicted and he was about to place an ad in the paper to rent out the garage. He then said that he thought of me and that I might want to rent the garage to detail out of. I was stoked but didn't let him see that, thinking he might put a premium on the rent figure if he knew how stoked I was about it so I calmly said "shoot me a number". I couldn't refuse as the number was well within a doable range. Remember, this place is like a half mile from my house.
So the way I see it, I have this opportunity because despite wanting to cuss some people out over there, I instead chose to follow the lead of the winners here at AG and remain calm, positive and respectful in the face of adversity. Monday I see my insurance guy to make sure I have the proper amount of garage keeper’s coverage then I'll drop the first month and security after that. Then my life will change back to one that is nothing but work, work, work, until I get past the initial financial hurdles of this move. The next few months are going to be tough but I've just worked too hard for too long to pass up this opportunity. Here are a few pics of the outside of the shop and the conveniently busy location. I'll post pics of the inside once I get a key.
http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd323/tuscaroradave/new%20shop/017.jpg
http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd323/tuscaroradave/new%20shop/020.jpg
http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd323/tuscaroradave/new%20shop/019.jpg
http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd323/tuscaroradave/new%20shop/021.jpg
Thanks for reading my long winded post. TD