Thumper
01-19-2016, 12:58 PM
Years ago, I hired a dude as a mechanic at the Caddie dealer in Hollywood. I had cleaned house of some dead weight and a few primadonna a-holes that were eating up the payroll, and hired some kids fresh out of the GM Training Center, as well as a few who answered ads. This guy was a bit green, but was super mechanically inclined, a fast learner and a hard worker. Even though he worked for me, we soon became close friends. We both liked motorcycles and I even sold him my old Beemer R90 years ago. In fact, I bought my first house about 2 blocks from his house outside of L.A. I have some CRAZY stories from when we used to run around together chasing wimmins, but that would be a different "Thump Post". ;) He ended up marrying the gal I hired as my dispatcher (they're still married and have kids and grand-kids now).
Back on subject, when GM came out with their %#*&^@* TOTAL PIECE OF SHIT diesel back in the late 70's to mid-80's ('78 to '85 if I remember correctly), it became immediately apparent we had a MAJOR problem on our hands. Most Cadillac mechanics avoided the dang things like the plague and wanted nothing to do with them, so I called my buddy into my office one evening and told him if he wanted to tackle the diesels, he could pretty much write his own ticket as he had very little competition and there were about a bazillion GM cars on the road that were destined to self-destruct before they hit the 18,000 mile mark on the odometer. He said he'd do whatever I wanted him to do, so I sent him off to every diesel school GM offered. Before long, HE was my diesel department! Once every POS GM diesel in the country started to hand-grenade, he started making so much money he needed a Brinks truck to haul his paycheck home!
When I left the Hollywood dealer, he quit and moved to Seattle to work for my dad at a Caddie dealer my dad managed, again, making money hand-over-fist. When my dad moved to Arkansas to start building limousines, my buddy quit and went to work for Boeing (building landing gears for 747's I think), but soon tired of strikes and union bullshit, so he left and went back as a diesel mechanic for the Seattle city bus system, where again, he excelled at what he did. He stayed there until he retired a few years ago.
We've stayed in close contact through the years and he called me last night to wish me a happy birthday. Last year, he flew down here for about a week for the Daytona 500 and I drove over to meet him there. We sat around and talked about old times and he thanked me for steering him toward that whole diesel thing as it really paid off well for him. He has a VERY nice house in Seattle as well as a nice boat ... all the toys.
Anyway, last night we started talking about the possibility of him coming back down for the Daytona race this year, but instead of flying down, renting a car and staying in a hotel for the week (Speed Week), he was thinking of making a vacation out of it and bringing his wife down with him. (I haven't seen her in years!) He said when he retired a couple years ago, he bought a motorhome and he'd just trailer their cars down with him. WTF ... Cars I asked??? He said that way, if the wife wanted to go shopping or whatever, he'd still have his car to get around. Huh? To clarify, he sent pics of his motor home. (of course it's a diesel!) ;)
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He stacks his Corvette convertible on top of his wife's Chevy Impala!
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Of course, no cheap-assed cloth seats for this guy ... the interior is all leather.
6458
My question is, where did I go wrong? :banghead
Back on subject, when GM came out with their %#*&^@* TOTAL PIECE OF SHIT diesel back in the late 70's to mid-80's ('78 to '85 if I remember correctly), it became immediately apparent we had a MAJOR problem on our hands. Most Cadillac mechanics avoided the dang things like the plague and wanted nothing to do with them, so I called my buddy into my office one evening and told him if he wanted to tackle the diesels, he could pretty much write his own ticket as he had very little competition and there were about a bazillion GM cars on the road that were destined to self-destruct before they hit the 18,000 mile mark on the odometer. He said he'd do whatever I wanted him to do, so I sent him off to every diesel school GM offered. Before long, HE was my diesel department! Once every POS GM diesel in the country started to hand-grenade, he started making so much money he needed a Brinks truck to haul his paycheck home!
When I left the Hollywood dealer, he quit and moved to Seattle to work for my dad at a Caddie dealer my dad managed, again, making money hand-over-fist. When my dad moved to Arkansas to start building limousines, my buddy quit and went to work for Boeing (building landing gears for 747's I think), but soon tired of strikes and union bullshit, so he left and went back as a diesel mechanic for the Seattle city bus system, where again, he excelled at what he did. He stayed there until he retired a few years ago.
We've stayed in close contact through the years and he called me last night to wish me a happy birthday. Last year, he flew down here for about a week for the Daytona 500 and I drove over to meet him there. We sat around and talked about old times and he thanked me for steering him toward that whole diesel thing as it really paid off well for him. He has a VERY nice house in Seattle as well as a nice boat ... all the toys.
Anyway, last night we started talking about the possibility of him coming back down for the Daytona race this year, but instead of flying down, renting a car and staying in a hotel for the week (Speed Week), he was thinking of making a vacation out of it and bringing his wife down with him. (I haven't seen her in years!) He said when he retired a couple years ago, he bought a motorhome and he'd just trailer their cars down with him. WTF ... Cars I asked??? He said that way, if the wife wanted to go shopping or whatever, he'd still have his car to get around. Huh? To clarify, he sent pics of his motor home. (of course it's a diesel!) ;)
6453
6454
6455
He stacks his Corvette convertible on top of his wife's Chevy Impala!
6456
6457
Of course, no cheap-assed cloth seats for this guy ... the interior is all leather.
6458
My question is, where did I go wrong? :banghead