This really hits home Mike. Never seem to have enough time to deal with my own stuff until it's a must do. Actually your whole post hits home and will try to write more when I get a few more minutes. Need to get on the road for a 6 hour drive. Always trying to get work pushed through to get money to do more work. Always needing something so doing more work to get the funds to get the new tools or whatever. I have stopped and thought a few times why am I doing this. Why not just pay someone else to fix my stuff and spend my money on things not shop related like everyone else. I look at my scan tools or other large purchases and think I could have gone on a vacation or something with that money. Then think how nice it is to have the stuff to deal with whatever I need to on my own vehicles. Then stop and think how I have the stuff but only use it when it prevents them from driving. Maybe I should have just bought a small socket set and a new vehicle and if it breaks pay to have it fixed. Just have a car payment like everyone else instead of buying a new tool. I've gone back and forth a few times but in the end I enjoy what I do and am happy I chose this path. And then have to remind myself that the stuff I have has been paid for by the work I do for others which allowed me to have the stuff I do to do what I do. But every once in a while I have to stop and reflect on if I would have gone a different path like most people do and if I would have been ahead in money and time if I hadn't bought all these tools.
Just this morning I ordered 400 dollars in tools to be able to replace a sensor in my truck. A sensor I've had for months with a check engine light on. I keep telling my wife the truck is PMSing because she has been driving it, it's the particulate matter sensor. She doesn't think that's as funny as I do for some reason. But replacing it has been put off because of time and also because everything I've read says it's easy to pull the threads out of the bung while changing it. So I've been putting it off in order to buy the LTI shockit kit that uses an air hammer to help prevent that. Will see how that works this weekend.
I've been trying to be more proactive on my own stuff but it's hard to want to work on your own stuff after working on other peoples stuff. Just want to take a break after finishing something for someone else instead of work on mine.
Scott, I think we are thinking along the same lines on many things, as I am sure many reading from this forum are also thinking, which is one of the reasons I so enjoy this forum. So many like-minded people and those who aren't of similar thinking, I feel there is still much respect in how we interact and some I even have had my mind changed on some things due to the manner in which information is shared here.
I apologize often for my rants and ramblings, but the truth is, the exchange of thoughts and information on this particular forum are so important as they often contain information not necessarily revolving around cars or shops. Many times, it is about life choices and decisions that are shared that connect us here and for that I am grateful to have such a place to interact with others.
That being said, I have joked with my wife for many years that as mechanics we aren't necessarily the smarted breed. We bust our asses to buy tools to do more work, then have to do more work to justify and/or pay for said new tools.
Many times it would be cheaper to just take it somewhere and have the work performed. However, that opens up a whole other issue or issues. With the less than stellar workmanship exhibited by many repair shop's mechanics, would we really be pleased with the results? By purchasing tools and arming ourselves with knowledge, we can many times perform the repair(s) to a higher level of satisfaction than we would by taking it to a "professional" shop. The added bonus is once a tool is purchased, we own it for whatever job may come our way in the future, buy once cry once comes to mind.
I have been fortunate because in all my years of wrenching, I have held onto my one rule when it comes to tools and that is a promise I made to myself when I first started in a professional shop and walked onto a professional tool truck for the very first time. I was like a kid in a candy store with all the glitter and chrome grabbing my attention. But I made a promise to myself and to my wife that I would never borrow on any tool, no matter the cost. As we all know, hand tools are not cheap but most can be saved up for over the course of a few weeks, but when it comes to larger shop equipment some costing well over $10k at a bite, this becomes a harder choice to adhere to as it often times requires years worth of saving to afford, but so worth it in the end. The wife and I have never been on a cruise or an all expense paid resort style of vacation and both the wife and I are fine with that as it isn't our style. However, we have probably spent more on the RV side of life than the average person, so it comes down to life choices, not saying one is better than the other, just different paths based on different choices.
As for finding time to work on our own stuff, this has had a hard lesson for me to learn over the course of my career and something I struggled with for many years up until more recently when I agreed to some rules with the wife when I started taking on side work again. My wife has to keep reminding me of the reason I told her I wanted to become a mechanic, that was because I wanted to drive the nicest stuff on the road and best maintained and I could not do that if I had to take it to someone else for everything. I have also had what were minor issues actually turn into larger more substantial repairs and expenses because I put it off while working on someone else's stuff. This has bitten me more than I care to admit but was a lesson I needed to learn during the search for that higher level of maintenance that I sought and dreamed of. I can thank my wife as well as both of my mentors who over the years have helped me to develop that level of preventive maintenance and something I am still "tweaking" to this day.
I think as we go through life, many of us can reflect back and see various phases or chapters and when we had to make a hard decision or change direction that one chapter or phase of life may close, but another opens. We may not recognize it at that particular point in time but looking back I am sure we can all see them clear as day years later.
During our drives last weekend, the wife and I had some very deep and good discussions about our life, how we got to this point in life and what we wanted our life to look like going forward up to and including retirement. I can honestly say that when two people are on the same page it sure makes things easier. We attended a funeral of one my wife's cousins last week and we were able to reflect back on his life from when we were first dating and married and how he behaved in his marriage and raising his family and now with his passing and as I described it to my wife with one word it really hit me, simplistic. They weren't world travelers, they had a truck and camper and traveled all around the United States, Canada and Mexico in that setup and just enjoyed life along the way all while raising their family and when that chapter was done, they enjoyed just being together and continued to travel and see so many different places. They didn't move from house to house as promotions or income levels changed, hell, I think I only remember them having about four or five cars in the 38 years I knew him as they simply didn't buy things to be buying things.
As the wife and I talked and as we reflected back on her grandparent's life as well, with my wife's grandmothers recent passing several months ago, we also described them in a similar manner. I think as I get older, I actually yearn for that more simplistic life. Now while many of you reading my thread may not agree that my wife and I live a simplistic life, I actually feel that in many ways we do as our behaviors mirror those mentioned above. We don't buy new cars because they go out of warranty, we hold on to things long term. We lived in our first home for 26-years before deciding to move, which wasn't an easy decision. We don't have to buy the latest and greatest cell phones that come out, we just replace the batteries as needed. We don't do things to impress others; we are fine being outliers and odd in our circles because we follow our own path and stick to our core beliefs when it comes to working hard and saving for our future. We weigh purchases and don't just buy whatever we feel we want today.
I don't feel like we live an extravagant life, but yet I feel we are so very rich in how blessed we are as a couple, a family and the life we have created, that we don't need to look for outside avenues or influences to get that satisfaction from. We are fine sitting on the deck with a cup of coffee and enjoying the view in the mornings or summer evenings, we don't go out to eat a lot and enjoy cooking and eating at home (unless we're on vacation and splurge a bit
), although we have a nice RV, it is 24-years old and we merely take care of it and enjoy it. We have talked multiple times over the years about upgrading coaches or getting something newer but then decide we are fine with what we have and don't "need" anything newer. I think there are a lot of people who buy things or take trips to exotic destinations many times taking on debt to do so, just to fill a void, and we are ones who avoid impulse purchases and have to justify them not only to ourselves, but to each other which I think keeps us a bit more grounded. For that reasoning, I feel we live quite simplistic and something I am very ok with. My wife is asked often about our trips and travel method, but she is the first one to admit that if it weren't for my ability to maintain and repair our vehicles, we probably would not have much of what we do. Back in our earlier life together, I had to have all the toys. We had sleds, dirt bikes, sand quads, sand rail, street rod/race car two enclosed trailers, flatbed trailer and so much "stuff" and all that "stuff" came at a heavy cost. I used to think that these toys and things made success, but fortunately, I learned that was not what defined success and each person had to make that distinction for themselves. My wife and I decluttered our lives, sold most all our toys, trailers and found we were much happier with less "stuff". A more simplistic life.
But those same mistakes are ones I don't want to see others make. Thank you for your comments and for following along.
