ZMotorsports Shop Projects 2.0

[Mr.zippy]

Saved that client a pile of money Mike!

 

[zmotorsports]

If it were me, I would let the owner/manager know. They can't fix what they don't know is broken. This is a great lesson on what NOT to do.

While I would agree with you Dan, I'm keeping my mouth shut. I haven't been treated the best in the past by some of these local shops when I had my business license because I operated out of my home shop and therefore they didn't consider me as a professional shop and protested to the city. So I'm not saying **** or drawing any attention. If that's the way they choose to operate that's on them.

Saved that client a pile of money Mike!

Yeah, he got out the door with only an hour of labor and a few bucks for supplies, he's was very happy when he picked the truck up.

 

[SilverJimmy]

My home shop customers were the best, especially the ones who wanted to be the best at what they did!

 

[Xti04]

Thank you very much. Having the proper tools and equipment may not be the entire formula for a positive outcome, but it sure gives the mechanic the best chance for success and repeatability.

Fortunately, my wife has been instrumental in allowing me to equip myself with whatever tools and equipment needed to perform the work that comes through my shop door.





I think Motion Pro still sells a version of these, but they distinctly state "no mercury used" on them. Not quite sure what media they use though.

A guy I worked with had a set of these and loaned them out and they " lost" the mercury. We would find old thermostats and clip the bulbs in them to get mercury out to refill the gauges.

 

[zmotorsports]

My home shop customers were the best, especially the ones who wanted to be the best at what they did!

Funny you mention that Sterling. My two mentors who were hands down the best mechanics I personally knew only worked out of their home shops/garages. One worked as a mechanic for a local municipality and wrenched on the side at home and the other was my boss who oversaw the maintenance department and then wrenched at home. BOTH had the most in-depth and professionally setup home shops with the proper tools to do most everything that came through the door. They were very well respected and people sought them out specifically to work on their assets as they had such a highly regarded reputation. I was drawn to that and respected them both so very much for their skillset and knowledge. I never saw or heard of either of them doing substandard work or anything less than their best regardless of whose vehicle they were working on and for that I very much admired them. Neither knew each other, but I was fortunate to know both of them personally and was able to learn so much from both of them if by nothing more than observing how they did things and how they treated people. I can honestly say that they both had a hand in shaping me into who I am.

When people talk about professional mechanics these are the two gentlemen that immediately pop into my mind, not someone at a dealership or independent repair shop, no, these two mechanics who worked out of their home workshops and performed amazing work.

I think I've shared this story before, but the one who worked for the municipality (maintained city vehicles), was the older brother of a good friend of mine and he eventually became a pretty good friend as well. The first time I met him was when his brother and his girlfriend (eventually wife) and me and my girlfriend (now wife) were up on the mountainside riding ATV's and his truck broke a rear axle shaft. We drove my truck down, dropped the trailer and ran to his brother's house to see if he had an axle shaft. I remember it was after dark on a Saturday night and his detached shop still had the lights on when we pulled in his driveway. I remember just being in awe and drooling when we walked into his shop, it was nice and warm, heater was running overhead, he had the radio on low, and he was working on a client's car. He had a Matco toolbox, Snap-on hydraulic press, Snap-on solvent tank and all kinds of high-end tools and equipment lining the walls of his workshop. His workshop wasn't huge by any means, I would say probably 30'x30' at the most, but it made such a HUGE impact on me at that time. I was barely out of high school, working in a parts store and was trying to get on as a mechanic somewhere and I remember just thinking "this is what I want out of life". I even remember telling my girlfriend when we arrived back on the mountain with the parts that I know what I want out of life and explained to her what I just came from.

A few short months later, I began working for my other mentor and quickly learned he had a very similar, if not slightly higher end, setup at his home as well. That was the first time I saw a Sun diagnostic station and valve grinding equipment at a home shop. These two men really made an impact in my life and gave me a glimpse of what is possible if you choose to work your *** off and continuously try to improve upon your skillset and knowledge.

 

[zmotorsports]

The owner of the Super Duty picked up his truck last night, so I gave the shop a full sweep and detail before the next job rolled in. My buddy text me to see if he could drop off sled #2 to have me go through the carbs.
















Thanks for looking.

 

[Finallygotit]

While I would agree with you Dan, I'm keeping my mouth shut. I haven't been treated the best in the past by some of these local shops when I had my business license because I operated out of my home shop and therefore they didn't consider me as a professional shop and protested to the city. So I'm not saying **** or drawing any attention. If that's the way they choose to operate that's on them.

Mike, sorry but I did not mean to infer that you should talk to the shop, you should stay out of it IMHO. The owner of the Ford truck should have a quick chat with that shop as he dealt directly with them on this F-up.

 

[zmotorsports]

Mike, sorry but I did not mean to infer that you should talk to the shop, you should stay out of it IMHO. The owner of the Ford truck should have a quick chat with that shop as he dealt directly with them on this F-up.

Gotcha, sorry Dan, I misunderstood. I gave the owner of the truck the wire sections, but he was unsure if he was going to bring them to the shop or not. The ball is in his court now whether he follows through with bringing it to the shop's attention.

 

[rd65]

Surprised sled guy isn't having you do a clutch service to those sleds he just got. Clutching is everything on a snowmobile.
SuperDuty guy really should at least shoot the Manager an email w/ pics. Personally, I think I would go have a meeting with the guy. If he doesn't know, issues like that cant be resolved with the tech. Either the tech will learn something or he is going to get someone hurt.

 

[zmotorsports]

Surprised sled guy isn't having you do a clutch service to those sleds he just got. Clutching is everything on a snowmobile.

Agreed. Back when I was heavily involved in powersports, my typical pre-season inspection on sleds that I performed for my clients was quite extensive. A full pre-season inspection consisted of carburetor removal and cleaning, clutch removal, disassembly, inspection and reassembly and nearly every year there was something found in the clutches, either a bushing that needed to be replaced on a moveable sheave or weight, but something needed attention. I also would pull the rear skids and inspect each bearing as well as suspension bushing and hyfax for wear as well as steering components, front suspension and skags.

Although I no longer work on powersports equipment, when my buddy asked that I go through the carbs on these two new to him sleds, I asked how extensive of a pre-season inspection he wanted me to do and ran down the list of what I used to complete on a pre-season inspection. I also suggested he replace the Isoflex grease on this Ski-Doo as that is recommended annually or every couple thousand miles. He shook his head and said "carburetors only". Gotcha. Which actually works out great for me because this way I don't have to move my Handy ATV/snowmobile lift back into the shop and try to move the sled off the trailer onto the lift without scratching my shop floors all to hell. Although I kept all of my snowmobile specialty tools when we got out of sledding in 2009, I did sell my dolly to wheel these machines around the yard and shop as well as my several of warm up stands, so I was actually relieved when he only wanted the carbs. cleaned. There are some aspects I kind of miss about working on sleds, but moving them around the yard and shop is NOT one of them.

 

[SilverJimmy]

Mike, I’ve been in probably over a 1000 shops and yours is the nicest I’ve ever seen that wasn’t a professional race shop. Check this one out!

This is Richard Childress Racing’s shop in North Carolina, notice any similarities? It’s clean (spotless!) well organized, efficient, and ready for any task that rolls thru the door. Just like your shop! They even copied your color scheme right down to the bitchin Kenosha Red tool boxes! The fab shop was even more impressive but I was so blown away I forgot to take pictures! I’d love to just be able to visit your shop and even better be able to have you do work on my stuff that I lack the skills to do myself!

 

[zmotorsports]

Thanks Sterling. That is a gorgeous looking shop, and I'll bet a joy to work in.

I appreciate your comments. I know there are a lot of great looking shops on this forum, shops that are much better looking than mine, but I try to pride myself on having a well-equipped shop. Thank you for noticing and commenting.

 

[PhantomEB]

Agreed. Back when I was heavily involved in powersports, my typical pre-season inspection on sleds that I performed for my clients was quite extensive. A full pre-season inspection consisted of carburetor removal and cleaning, clutch removal, disassembly, inspection and reassembly and nearly every year there was something found in the clutches, either a bushing that needed to be replaced on a moveable sheave or weight, but something needed attention. I also would pull the rear skids and inspect each bearing as well as suspension bushing and hyfax for wear as well as steering components, front suspension and skags.

Although I no longer work on powersports equipment, when my buddy asked that I go through the carbs on these two new to him sleds, I asked how extensive of a pre-season inspection he wanted me to do and ran down the list of what I used to complete on a pre-season inspection. I also suggested he replace the Isoflex grease on this Ski-Doo as that is recommended annually or every couple thousand miles. He shook his head and said "carburetors only". Gotcha. Which actually works out great for me because this way I don't have to move my Handy ATV/snowmobile lift back into the shop and try to move the sled off the trailer onto the lift without scratching my shop floors all to hell. Although I kept all of my snowmobile specialty tools when we got out of sledding in 2009, I did sell my dolly to wheel these machines around the yard and shop as well as my several of warm up stands, so I was actually relieved when he only wanted the carbs. cleaned. There are some aspects I kind of miss about working on sleds, but moving them around the yard and shop is NOT one of them.

He an idiot lol. One thing I know about my personal fleet, any time to have someone who knows more go thru the unit before I use, the better off I am. Even better if I can have them show me the ropes.

 

[zmotorsports]

Hope everyone had a great weekend. We had fantastic weather here along the Wasatch Front all weekend so we took advantage of it.

Friday night we were able to join my son and his family at the local dinosaur park here in Ogden. Each October they have an event called Dinos in the Dark, where they decorate the dinosaur park up in spooky Halloween garb and have treats for the kids. We took our son when he was little, but they've changed it quite a bit over the past 20 or so years. Our grandson loved it. They had speakers set up in the bushes playing dinosaur noises and had a couple of smoke machines to give an eerie atmosphere to the park and the weather was absolutely perfect, although once the sun went down it cooled right off.

Saturday morning I went to breakfast with my son and grandson and we broke bread before starting our day. I love this relatively new tradition that we've started.



After breakfast I headed out to the shop to continue work on the 2007 Ski-Doo Summit 800 snowmobile and get it finished up. Look at how nasty the inside of these carburetors are.


Carbs off and ready to tear down. These took a little more time than the Polaris to remove. There's a lot of **** stuffed into this relatively small engine bay area.


Upon tearing the carbs down it was evident that these were in worse condition than the ones on the Polaris.




So many ports and jets were plugged up, they all required a bit more invasive cleaning than the Polaris did.


Parts all cleaned and going back together.


Main inlet jets and seats holding well.


Carbs. reassembled and ready to install into the chassis.


Sled done. After about a dozen or so pulls, it fired up and idled perfectly. Nice throttle response and starts on the first pull. The owner should be pleased and can now pick this one up.



After finishing up the sled and doing a little cleaning it was time to close up the shop. The wife had gotten tickets for the annual cemetery tour that Weber County Heritage Foundation puts on each year. She got me hooked on these cemetery tours about 4 years ago and we've gone every year since. The Weber County Heritage Foundation selects a different cemetery in the county each year and within each cemetery they select about a dozen people whom are buried there to have their story told. They have people from the local community dress up in period correct clothing and depict their life through research and talking with living relatives. The first year my wife told me about it I kind of thought it to be a bit odd or morbid, but they foundation does an excellent job of portraying the lives of these people from our local communities that have passed and it is all done in a very professional and caring manner. I was so impressed with the first year that I went, that we haven't missed a year since. Although, we almost missed this year because it was originally scheduled for the weekend before and the wife and I had other obligations and weren't going to be able to attend. However, with the weather we had last weekend the foundation postponed it until this last weekend which would allow us to attend so she went online and got us tickets as soon as she saw they rescheduled it.

 

[zmotorsports]

After the cemetery tour on Saturday afternoon, we went and had a nice dinner and then sat on the deck enjoying the sunset until it cooled down enough that it got cold. As the sun was going down, it cast a beautiful purple hue on the mountains to our east that also got hit with a dusting of snow last weekend.



Sunday morning after multiple cups of coffee on the deck and it warmed up a bit, I headed out to the shop to get a few things finished up and then turned my attention to yard prep before winter. I went around and greased and lubed all of the hinges and latches on the gates around the property, covered our A/C unit and then the dew had finally dried off the grass so I went around and edged, trimmed and mowed the lawn. My neighbor was doing his as well and stopped to BS while I was in the front yard. He asked me what I was doing to my gates and acted kind of shocked when I told him I was greasing and lubing the hinges and latches. Doesn't everyone do that annually?

The lawn has really filled in well after cutting a couple bad sections out earlier in the year. The city turned off our secondary water mid-last week so I also closed off the main valve in the park strip so I can blow out my sprinkler this week sometime. I did receive the final water statement over the weekend and I was pleased to see that I only used 78.3% of my allocated water for the entire season. I had been keeping an eye on it because I watered a little more heavily those three areas that I replaced back in late June for the first month or so. I heard on the news that in our area as a whole, we had used 3% more water for irrigation that our cities allotment, which kind of made me sad. I know how much I water in order to keep my lawn looking nice, so if I can reduce my water consumption and still keep my yard looking as nice as I do, I don't see any reason why others can't, or won't, do the same. What I don't want to have happen is for the water district to start limiting our water usage again like they did about 6 years ago so I have been doing my best to be mindful with my allocation. I just wish others would do the same. It really bothers me when I drive past the city office building however, and in the heat of the afternoon they have all of their sprinklers running.

All in all, ours is looking pretty good at the end of the season. My neighbor said to me "this might be the last time we have to mow the lawns". I think he was shocked when I told him I hoped not. I actually enjoy (most of the time) mowing my lawn and would rather mow my lawn that clear snow any day of the week.




The trees just started turning last week and I noticed a few leaves beginning to fall over the weekend, so it won't be long until they are bare.


The area that I leveled a few weeks ago it actually filling in nicely as well. I have a few areas that probably won't fill in completely until spring, but the ground is feeling solid and I am so glad it is raised enough that I no longer have standing water alongside the foundation going into winter.






Thanks for looking.

 

[ScepterToad]

Cant' say that I've ever seen green goo that bad in a carb before. That's nuts.

Yard is looking good as usual Mike! I did a little seeding on mine this past weekend, hoping to keep the mud run from happening again this year as the dogs bust out the back door to make sure there aren't any squirrels in the back yard. They run it down pretty good. Hopefully it takes in enough time.

Though, not to get you fired up, it looks like we're supposed to have a pretty snowy winter this year. I've seen several reports/videos over the last week showing "more than normal" amounts for most of the US.

 

[zmotorsports]

Cant' say that I've ever seen green goo that bad in a carb before. That's nuts.

Yard is looking good as usual Mike! I did a little seeding on mine this past weekend, hoping to keep the mud run from happening again this year as the dogs bust out the back door to make sure there aren't any squirrels in the back yard. They run it down pretty good. Hopefully it takes in enough time.

Though, not to get you fired up, it looks like we're supposed to have a pretty snowy winter this year. I've seen several reports/videos over the last week showing "more than normal" amounts for most of the US.

Thanks Keith. I'm relatively pleased with how the yard is looking this fall, I also overseeded a few areas a few weeks ago so we'll see how it does before that white **** falls and again in the spring as it comes out of hibernation. I've too seen the predictions for winter, but those reports are only correct about half the time, if that. As much as I do hate clearing snow, I hope we get enough at least in the mountains to fill the reservoirs and allow us a good amount for irrigation next year. Plus, I'd like to see some nice creeks, rivers and waterfalls as we travel next year as this year in almost all areas we traveled, it was quite dry.

 

[signcrafter]

Mike I'm not familiar with water allocations or secondary watering systems but I wonder how many of those going over their limit have leaks and don't notice or care to pay to have them fixed? Also guessing most don't take the time to adjust them like you have shown. Kind of like the lubing of the gate hinges.

 

[zmotorsports]

Mike I'm not familiar with water allocations or secondary watering systems but I wonder how many of those going over their limit have leaks and don't notice or care to pay to have them fixed? Also guessing most don't take the time to adjust them like you have shown. Kind of like the lubing of the gate hinges.

Not sure about leaks either Scott. I would think if someone is mowing their lawn and they have an area that is constantly wet, they would investigate, especially knowing their water allocations are limited. The water allocations are set by the county based on the amount of property that you have, then subtract out the non-permeable areas. Our secondary water is paid annually and is included with the annual property taxes, unlike the last county we lived in where the secondary water is paid monthly. Our secondary water has only been metered/measured here about the last 5 or 6 years, so there should be no reason why someone would not know how much they are using as the data is pretty much in real time.

I do realize that I probably went a little overboard several years ago when I went about "tweaking" my sprinkler heads to maximize the coverage with minimal water, but that was more of a personal test and something I wanted to tackle. Yes, it was time consuming, but for me it was quite rewarding to see how I was able to change nozzles for the different sprinkler heads on each zone to accommodate for those in shaded areas vs. those in more direct sun. I don't expect everyone to go through that process, but again, for me it was a personal challenge that I took on. I do however, expect others to be responsible for the amount of water they are allocated each year, as there should be no reason they should not know where they stand at any given point throughout the season.

I sent off the city multiple emails over the past 3 years and this year it looks like they finally listened to me or at least got similar messages/emails from others. In the past they would send a monthly report, and it showed how much was allocated each month then subtract that from the annual allocation and provide you with a number for the month along with a smiley face, meh or frown face based on how much you used for that particular month. The downside to this method is that it merely divided up the annual usage by the number of months and "assumed" that water usage would be a stagnant or exactly the same amount monthly. My suggestion was to just give the annual allocation amount, then a line graph showing the allocated amount from lowest to full allocation and the another line depicting where your particular usage falls along with the linear graph. Then allow us as residents to monitor overall usage because we will have some months where we increase the times per zone and others where we dial them back or even turn them off if/when we have rain. This year they finally just gave us the overall and not a monthly frowny face on our reports. I much prefer to see the overall and where we fall and let us use it as we see fit throughout the year.

 

[ntsqd]

Looking at those carbs reminded me of a recent thread on a different forum discussing cordless small chainsaws and a guy posts that he doesn't like them. They don't sound or smell right.
The very next post is a guy saying that he's seen candles made by Klotz so that you can have that smell anytime you need it. I had to look, sure enough: https://klotzlube.com/shop/ols/products/klotz-candle
I might need some of those for Christmas gifts......

 

[zmotorsports]

Looking at those carbs reminded me of a recent thread on a different forum discussing cordless small chainsaws and a guy posts that he doesn't like them. They don't sound or smell right.
The very next post is a guy saying that he's seen candles made by Klotz so that you can have that smell anytime you need it. I had to look, sure enough: https://klotzlube.com/shop/ols/products/klotz-candle
I might need some of those for Christmas gifts......

Awesome. My son and I have often joked in our last shop that if they made a candle or air fresheners using Klotz and race fuel we'd buy them.

 

[fouckhest]

Looking at those carbs reminded me of a recent thread on a different forum discussing cordless small chainsaws and a guy posts that he doesn't like them. They don't sound or smell right.
The very next post is a guy saying that he's seen candles made by Klotz so that you can have that smell anytime you need it. I had to look, sure enough: https://klotzlube.com/shop/ols/products/klotz-candle
I might need some of those for Christmas gifts......

Love the smell of Klotz oil, I've run their oil in my last two cars with built engines. Always wanted one of those candles too, might have to sneak one in the house and see what the wifey thinks LOL

 

[ntsqd]

Supposedly amazon also has them, but with their cloud currently screwed up (glad I'm not that Data Systems Manager!) I can't search for it.

In my undergrad years working in the gun shop we used to joke about making our millions by coming out with our own line of aftershave that smelled like Hoppe's No. 9.

 

[signcrafter]

Awesome. My son and I have often joked in our last shop that if they made a candle or air fresheners using Klotz and race fuel we'd buy them.

They make them both. LOL

Amazon.com: Racing Fuel 110 Hi Octane Soy Wax Novelty Candle 8 oz | Smells Like Horsepower | Handcrafted in Michigan | Gift for Her | Gift for Him : Home & Kitchen

Buy Racing Fuel 110 Hi Octane Soy Wax Novelty Candle 8 oz | Smells Like Horsepower | Handcrafted in Michigan | Gift for Her | Gift for Him: Candles - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

I got a diesel scented candle one year for Christmas. Never lit it but it smells like diesel.

 

[zmotorsports]

Last night consisted of a little more yard and property prep before the cold settles in.

Also, the gentleman who owned the sleds picked up the Ski-Doo last night so I'm done working on sleds.

As soon as he left, I drug the hose out of the shop and headed towards the secondary water inlet box in the front side yard.


Opened the front main spigot.





Then the rear main spigot.



Those two spigots usually get about 90% of the water from the entire system expelled, then I run around zone by zone to get the last amounts of water out of the system.

Sad day actually as it means my lawn will now be going dormant and turning colors. Seems like just yesterday I was charging the system for the beginning of the season.

 

[jbmatth]

Mike, regarding the secondary water usage I have a few suspicions on the matter. I'm willing to bet you are in the minority of people who maintain their system themselves and most have to hire it out. So likely many just don't optimize or adjust throughout the year. If they have leaks they see the increase (maybe see, maybe just auto pay and never notice) then get an estimate for repair and see a $$$$ quote and would just pay the extra water bill.

I go for runs early in the morning and the number of "rivers" running down the road as sprinklers are going off is maddening, enough that sometimes it'll grow algae in the middle of summer.

Rant over, but thank you for doing your part to be an asset to society and not a liability on the "system".

Yard still looks amazing, well done.

JB

 

[zmotorsports]

Mike, regarding the secondary water usage I have a few suspicions on the matter. I'm willing to bet you are in the minority of people who maintain their system themselves and most have to hire it out. So likely many just don't optimize or adjust throughout the year. If they have leaks they see the increase (maybe see, maybe just auto pay and never notice) then get an estimate for repair and see a $$$$ quote and would just pay the extra water bill.

I go for runs early in the morning and the number of "rivers" running down the road as sprinklers are going off is maddening, enough that sometimes it'll grow algae in the middle of summer.

Rant over, but thank you for doing your part to be an asset to society and not a liability on the "system".

Yard still looks amazing, well done.

JB

Thank you JB. Hope you are doing well and thank you for stopping by.

While I would agree that I am probably the minority in the degree in which I maintain our sprinkler system, I simply don't understand the waste associated with so many things these days, water or anything else. We are tasked with being good stewards over our property and assets, and I simply don't understand with all of the information readily available in this era that more people don't take advantage of that information. However, they HAVE to have their new iPhone, new car or whatever else makes them "feel good". To me, and I'm sure many others here, I get a lot of pleasure and satisfaction maintaining our assets to the level that I do.

 

[rd65]

Thank you JB. Hope you are doing well and thank you for stopping by.

While I would agree that I am probably the minority in the degree in which I maintain our sprinkler system, I simply don't understand the waste associated with so many things these days, water or anything else. We are tasked with being good stewards over our property and assets, and I simply don't understand with all of the information readily available in this era that more people don't take advantage of that information. However, they HAVE to have their new iPhone, new car or whatever else makes them "feel good". To me, and I'm sure many others here, I get a lot of pleasure and satisfaction maintaining our assets to the level that I do.

I am constantly telling our kids and the kids at work that you have the world in your hand but yet you cant do anything more with it than take pics and check your "socials". Disturbing. I remember the days when I had to go to the library with a pocket full of dimes to take copies of pages in books that couldnt be checked out from the reference section.

 

[zmotorsports]

I am constantly telling our kids and the kids at work that you have the world in your hand but yet you cant do anything more with it than take pics and check your "socials". Disturbing. I remember the days when I had to go to the library with a pocket full of dimes to take copies of pages in books that couldnt be checked out from the reference section.

Agreed. These days with so much information available at our fingertips, I feel much is lost in the critical thinking department. I just posted the same thing on another thread where I feel critical thinking is vastly diminishing. People want instant fixes and instant everything, so they forego any critical thinking that comes along with basic problem solving or taking pride in owning various items.

I too remember when I had to go to the library to research certain topics and when it came to search for information about various components, many times that consisted of a phone call to the vendor or manufacturer requesting any literature they could or would provide.

 

[Jgaz]

Mike, regarding the secondary water usage I have a few suspicions on the matter. I'm willing to bet you are in the minority of people who maintain their system themselves and most have to hire it out. So likely many just don't optimize or adjust throughout the year. If they have leaks they see the increase (maybe see, maybe just auto pay and never notice) then get an estimate for repair and see a $$$$ quote and would just pay the extra water bill.

I go for runs early in the morning and the number of "rivers" running down the road as sprinklers are going off is maddening, enough that sometimes it'll grow algae in the middle of summer.

Rant over, but thank you for doing your part to be an asset to society and not a liability on the "system".

Yard still looks amazing, well done.

JB

@jbmatth You have the “rivers” right.
I‘m in Phoenix and during the summer when it’s hot I walk my dog about 3 miles every morning.
I‘m out the door by 5:30am to beat the heat.
I see lots and lots of water running from irrigation pipe leaks.
With everything being so hot the water evaporates quickly so by the time the homeowners get up a lot of water has dried up. The homeowners never notice the water running down the cutter and wonder where it came from.

So many people are CLUELESS! We live in the desert!
Do you not l see anything when you look at your house or yard?
I had to point out to a neighbor last week that she had at least 5 termite tubes coming up from the ground to her stucco. I could see them from the sidewalk!

No different I guess when I used to get frustrated at work when a coworker would walk thru a test cell to get to a storage area or the pump room and not notice an obvious problem in the test cell.
Don't you hear, smell, or see anything thats not normal?

Sorry Mike. Rant over.

 

[PugetDude]

Re: the termite tube observation...
Our exterminator was pushing us to get their $$$$ termite program because our neighbor had termites and it was just a matter of time before they marched over and ate our entire house overnight...
I let him make his impassioned, breathless sales pitch, then informed him that our house is all steel framed. There is a 50' glu-lam over the back patio, but that's 14' above grade...

 

[zmotorsports]

@jbmatth You have the “rivers” right.
I‘m in Phoenix and during the summer when it’s hot I walk my dog about 3 miles every morning.
I‘m out the door by 5:30am to beat the heat.
I see lots and lots of water running from irrigation pipe leaks.
With everything being so hot the water evaporates quickly so by the time the homeowners get up a lot of water has dried up. The homeowners never notice the water running down the cutter and wonder where it came from.

So many people are CLUELESS! We live in the desert!
Do you not l see anything when you look at your house or yard?
I had to point out to a neighbor last week that she had at least 5 termite tubes coming up from the ground to her stucco. I could see them from the sidewalk!

No different I guess when I used to get frustrated at work when a coworker would walk thru a test cell to get to a storage area or the pump room and not notice an obvious problem in the test cell.
Don't you hear, smell, or see anything thats not normal?

Sorry Mike. Rant over.

Fortunately, I don't see a lot of my immediate neighbors wasting water, but in the neighborhood across the street and the neighborhood to our west, the wife and I will see rivers of water running when we take our evening walks once in a while. Kind of disheartening actually.

As a homeowner, I don't see what is so hard about running through each zone of your sprinkler system a couple of times a year just to ensure everything is operating properly, the degree of rotation and the spray pattern are providing adequate coverage. I check mine quite often just to make sure I didn't bump one of the rotary heads with the line trimmer or edger and change the range of motion. I also have a few heads that are borderline along the curb so I only want them to overlap a very, very slight amount, just enough to catch the grass, but not enough to water the street so I keep a little closer eye on those particular heads.

No need to apologize, no rant. Unfortunately, it's an epidemic. We had a trolley motor on one of our overhead cranes making a noise a couple of weeks ago when I walked through the battery room. Someone was using it and it was making a horrendous grinding noise. I stopped them and immediately applied a lockout/tagout and went into the shop to get one of my mechanics to go with me and harness up so he could go up in the manlift and take a look at it. The individual informed me that the motor had been making that noise for a couple of weeks. I freakin' lost it. "You mean to tell me that you are in the maintenance department, you noticed an odd noise coming from a motor in a key piece of equipment and you didn't look into it or even say anything?" Upon tearing the motor and gearbox off the crane and bringing it to the shop we discovered that what started out as a failing bearing, quickly escalated to now a severely worn gear and shaft. A gear and shaft that we did not have in stock and cost nearly $2k but it all started with a $45 bearing that we DID have on the shelf.

I used this as an example in one of our meetings to demonstrate that if you see something, say something. One of our newer mechanics mentioned that if it isn't on a work order in their queue they aren't as concerned about it. I used the example that what if they took their wife's car in to a shop to have a tire repaired or replaced. The mechanic at the tire shop noticed that the tie rod was about to fall off, but he chose not to say anything because it wasn't on his repair order or ticket. "Wouldn't you be pissed off if your wife and kids were in an accident and you later learned that the guy putting the tire on saw it and chose not to say anything?" WTF is wrong with people these days? Also tried to explain how they should be actively engaged in their work, not just going through the motions and for hell's sake, take pride in what you're doing.

 

[ntsqd]

No secondary water system here, and water is priced dear enough that leaks and over-irrigation hit the wallet fairly hard. That gets the system the attention that it needs. May not be optimized, but at least it isn't cleaning the gutters either.

Pro-active maintenance vs. Reactive maintenance. Some guys don't get it and never will. I've no match for Mike's experience in this, but IME some of the worst about not doing the pro-active have been the accountants who won't spend the money. Rather than fighting them I've learned to let it go. And then after it has cratered I darned sure say I told you so, maybe next time you'll listen. Doesn't earn me any friends, don't care. Penny wise, pound foolish is the old saying.

 

[Swanny1953]

Fortunately, I don't see a lot of my immediate neighbors wasting water, but in the neighborhood across the street and the neighborhood to our west, the wife and I will see rivers of water running when we take our evening walks once in a while. Kind of disheartening actually.

As a homeowner, I don't see what is so hard about running through each zone of your sprinkler system a couple of times a year just to ensure everything is operating properly, the degree of rotation and the spray pattern are providing adequate coverage. I check mine quite often just to make sure I didn't bump one of the rotary heads with the line trimmer or edger and change the range of motion. I also have a few heads that are borderline along the curb so I only want them to overlap a very, very slight amount, just enough to catch the grass, but not enough to water the street so I keep a little closer eye on those particular heads.

No need to apologize, no rant. Unfortunately, it's an epidemic. We had a trolley motor on one of our overhead cranes making a noise a couple of weeks ago when I walked through the battery room. Someone was using it and it was making a horrendous grinding noise. I stopped them and immediately applied a lockout/tagout and went into the shop to get one of my mechanics to go with me and harness up so he could go up in the manlift and take a look at it. The individual informed me that the motor had been making that noise for a couple of weeks. I freakin' lost it. "You mean to tell me that you are in the maintenance department, you noticed an odd noise coming from a motor in a key piece of equipment and you didn't look into it or even say anything?" Upon tearing the motor and gearbox off the crane and bringing it to the shop we discovered that what started out as a failing bearing, quickly escalated to now a severely worn gear and shaft. A gear and shaft that we did not have in stock and cost nearly $2k but it all started with a $45 bearing that we DID have on the shelf.

I used this as an example in one of our meetings to demonstrate that if you see something, say something. One of our newer mechanics mentioned that if it isn't on a work order in their queue they aren't as concerned about it. I used the example that what if they took their wife's car in to a shop to have a tire repaired or replaced. The mechanic at the tire shop noticed that the tie rod was about to fall off, but he chose not to say anything because it wasn't on his repair order or ticket. "Wouldn't you be pissed off if your wife and kids were in an accident and you later learned that the guy putting the tire on saw it and chose not to say anything?" WTF is wrong with people these days? Also tried to explain how they should be actively engaged in their work, not just going through the motions and for hell's sake, take pride in what you're doing.

Mike, I couldn’t agree with the WTF sentiment more!! We are witnessing the result of raising an entitled generation where everything was instant gratification and no consequences were enforced for bad actions. They have lost their ability to think critically as they have never been forced to do so, and their “give a ****” meter just doesn’t read high enough!!!
I don’t know how we get out of this conundrum, but I fear for our grandkids and their kids futures if something doesn’t turn around!! I, for one, don’t let my grandkids get away with that ****!

 

[OutlawDrifter]

No secondary water system here, and water is priced dear enough that leaks and over-irrigation hit the wallet fairly hard. That gets the system the attention that it needs. May not be optimized, but at least it isn't cleaning the gutters either.

Pro-active maintenance vs. Reactive maintenance. Some guys don't get it and never will. I've no match for Mike's experience in this, but IME some of the worst about not doing the pro-active have been the accountants who won't spend the money. Rather than fighting them I've learned to let it go. And then after it has cratered I darned sure say I told you so, maybe next time you'll listen. Doesn't earn me any friends, don't care. Penny wise, pound foolish is the old saying.

Stepping over dollars to save pennies is the term my dad used a lot.

 

[signcrafter]

Agreed. These days with so much information available at our fingertips, I feel much is lost in the critical thinking department. I just posted the same thing on another thread where I feel critical thinking is vastly diminishing. People want instant fixes and instant everything, so they forego any critical thinking that comes along with basic problem solving or taking pride in owning various items.

I too remember when I had to go to the library to research certain topics and when it came to search for information about various components, many times that consisted of a phone call to the vendor or manufacturer requesting any literature they could or would provide.

Technology and phones are a double edged sword. I love having the ability to access all sorts of things anytime I need to. It's great for looking up parts and materials and getting prices or looking up things like torque specs. Or for looking up service info or information when you run into an issue. It's great in so many ways.

But it does take some critical thinking out of the equation. I remember many struggles over the years and many brick walls I ran into. It forced me to think because we didn't have everything at our hands. For me I think it's a good thing to have because I still am thinking all the time but have that backup for issues I run into that I don't know. Kind of the same thing as you mentioned about calling the manufacturer, I can google it and read up on things. I also use it to avoid potential issues of just flying through something that may be routine. Even some simple stuff I will look for a youtube video or service data before starting if it's on a vehicle I haven't done that on before. Just to make sure there isn't a specialty tool or some hidden fastener or something like that I can avoid breaking something or down time. I use that time to wind down at the end of the day before going to bed.

But yes for some people it can make them brain dead. Things like driving directions, most people 35 or so and under couldn't follow directions without their phone. I grew up with paper maps, we always had an atlas in our vehicles and I continued that on for a long time. Along came mapquest and then now all the map apps on phones. But one little hiccup like an accident closing a road or construction and a lot of people are instantly lost. Yes the apps will redirect most of the time but I've had it tell me to do a U turn and go some silly way that makes no sense. Or the app will take you a way that makes no sense and if you solely rely on your phone to guide you it can be frustrating. But at the same time it can help you get somewhere you have never been.

It's great as long as you use it to supplement your own thinking and not turn your brain off and rely solely on the phone as your brain.

 

[rd65]

Seems that some knucklehead at work hired his buddy to be in charge of the Sewer/Drainage department. Both are dipshits that are only there for the paycheck. That's the only reason we can think of that this *******, with ZERO construction experience of ANY kind, who got the job over people we all knew could do the job. He's some former navy paper pusher who doesn't want to pay the vactor crews lead pay (5% for having more than 1 person they are in charge of). That means they can't go out to clean vaults or anything that requires a confined space entry. One person enters, one has to stay at the entry point to monitor person in hole and watch air monitor, one to fetch any tools/equipment that is needed. Crews arent allowed to stop to clear leaves off catch basin grates to prevent flooding. This is western WA, we get rain. He cant find a field to charge the time to. WTF. Not a clue what he is doing, no idea what the job requires, and has KILLED moral in that dept of 35+ bodies.

 

[zmotorsports]

Mike, I couldn’t agree with the WTF sentiment more!! We are witnessing the result of raising an entitled generation where everything was instant gratification and no consequences were enforced for bad actions. They have lost their ability to think critically as they have never been forced to do so, and their “give a ****” meter just doesn’t read high enough!!!
I don’t know how we get out of this conundrum, but I fear for our grandkids and their kids futures if something doesn’t turn around!! I, for one, don’t let my grandkids get away with that ****!

I don't know how we get out of this mess either Gary. I keep thinking I am only a few years from retiring, but to be honest, I don't want to give up and throw my hands up and say "it's their problem now". When I leave, I want to leave the company I work for in a good place with qualified and talented people to carry on. That is just getting harder and harder to do.

I remember back when I was green and just started, if my boss would have asked me to follow him around and ask questions about various pieces of equipment or procedures on various assets, hell, he wouldn't have been able to get rid of me and he'd have been tired of all my questions. I routinely offer this to all of my mechanics in our department, and while I don't know everything I am willing to "give" them everything I know. Hell, I even went one step further several months back when I told them not only will I eagerly give of all my knowledge if they just ask, I said "we'll pay you to take that information and knowledge." The disturbing part it, they don't want it. Occasionally I will have someone ask me to help them diagnose something or how something works or if I can show them how to weld something, but nowhere near as much as I would like them to ask.

I told my boss recently that people either have drive and ambition or they don't, that's not something you can teach, and he very much disagreed. I feel like I can only hold these guy's hands so much but as some point they need to step up.

As for kids and grandkids, my grandson is still quite young, but I plan on trying to teach him as much as I can and my son has a fairly strong work ethic, although still different than mine was at his age. That being said, my wife and I made it a goal that we would do our damnest to make sure our son didn't have to work multiple jobs to make ends meet where we did. While I'm grateful that he can support his family on a single income, I do see him with some liberties that his mother and I simply didn't have. Not saying that's good or bad, just different, but then again I think most of us want better for our children than what we had. But I also think many of us on this forum are exceptions to many things exhibited in society today.

My son has done well for himself and has moved up quite rapidly at his place of employment and I would like to think that maybe his mother and I had just a little bit to do with that as we held him to a higher standard than his friends were held to and we made him work around our home. Play time was after chores were completed. I know he saw friends of his being able to do whatever, whenever they wanted and he wasn't allowed that mindset. I hope one day he will realize it was all for the best.

 

[zmotorsports]

Technology and phones are a double edged sword. I love having the ability to access all sorts of things anytime I need to. It's great for looking up parts and materials and getting prices or looking up things like torque specs. Or for looking up service info or information when you run into an issue. It's great in so many ways.

But it does take some critical thinking out of the equation. I remember many struggles over the years and many brick walls I ran into. It forced me to think because we didn't have everything at our hands. For me I think it's a good thing to have because I still am thinking all the time but have that backup for issues I run into that I don't know. Kind of the same thing as you mentioned about calling the manufacturer, I can google it and read up on things. I also use it to avoid potential issues of just flying through something that may be routine. Even some simple stuff I will look for a youtube video or service data before starting if it's on a vehicle I haven't done that on before. Just to make sure there isn't a specialty tool or some hidden fastener or something like that I can avoid breaking something or down time. I use that time to wind down at the end of the day before going to bed.

But yes for some people it can make them brain dead. Things like driving directions, most people 35 or so and under couldn't follow directions without their phone. I grew up with paper maps, we always had an atlas in our vehicles and I continued that on for a long time. Along came mapquest and then now all the map apps on phones. But one little hiccup like an accident closing a road or construction and a lot of people are instantly lost. Yes the apps will redirect most of the time but I've had it tell me to do a U turn and go some silly way that makes no sense. Or the app will take you a way that makes no sense and if you solely rely on your phone to guide you it can be frustrating. But at the same time it can help you get somewhere you have never been.

It's great as long as you use it to supplement your own thinking and not turn your brain off and rely solely on the phone as your brain.

You bring up a good point Scott. Back when we were having to actually pick up the phone and call various vendors or manufacturers, I remember putting a LOT of thought into various questions I wanted to ask, even to the point of usually having them written down so I didn't forget anything.

However, before even picking up the phone, I wanted to understand the topic the best I could and have the best working knowledge of the system or component if for no other reason than to not sound like an idiot to the person on the other end of the line. I wanted to give the topic enough thought and consideration so that when the person on the other end of the line answered, they didn't feel like they were having to answer stupid questions or that they were wasting their time. IF I was going to use up someone else's time, I was going to give the questions the attention they needed to fully understand the topic beforehand. That usually required quite a bit of thought which I don't think is as common anymore. I cannot believe some of the questions I get on some of my videos and think to myself; "did you even think that through in your head before you typed that?" I also used to think there was no such thing as a stupid question, I have recently decided I was wrong.

 

[rharman]

I used to give a handout to my IT team every year or so to remind them of why we need to do our jobs accurately and completely. There's probably a few variations on this theme out there. Yeah, it's probably dated, but gets the point across.

If 99.9% Were Good Enough​

Lately it seems I have been hearing so many people say something along the lines of “oh, it’s good enough”. While almost completing something or being unsure it is accurate may work in some cases, in most it will not. The list that follows has been around for a while. I think it is valuable to re-visit every year as some of the 1% that isn’t done, or done incorrectly, can have lifelong effects.

If 99.9% Were Good Enough, then…​

• Two million documents will be lost by the IRS this year.
• 22,000 checks will be deducted from the wrong bank accounts in the next 60 minutes.
• 1,314 phone calls will be misplaced by telecommunication services every minute.
• 12 babies will be given to the wrong parents each day.
• 103,260 income tax returns will be processed incorrectly this year.
• 2,488,200 books will be shipped in the next 12 months with the wrong cover.
• 5.5 million cases of soft drinks produced in the next 12 months will be flatter than a bad tire.
• Two plane landings daily at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago will be unsafe.
• 3,065 copies of tomorrow’s Wall Street Journal will be missing one of the three sections.
• 18,322 pieces of mail will be mishandled in the next hour.
• 291 pacemaker operations will be performed incorrectly this year.
• 880,000 credit cards in circulation will turn out to have incorrect card holder information on their magnetic strips.
• $9,690 will be spent today, tomorrow, next Thursday, and every day in the future on defective, often unsafe sporting equipment.
• 20,000 incorrect drug prescriptions will be written in the next 12 months.
• 114,500 mismatched pairs of shoes will be shipped this year.
• 107 incorrect medical procedures will be performed by the end of the day today.
• 315 entries in Webster’s Third New International Dictionary of the English Language will turn out to be misspelled.