Retirement 3.0
- Thread starter Intheshop
- Start date
Good one Chris.
I will say,it ain't the customer!They have been off the hook,easy peazy to work with.Money just isn't an issue for them.
It's traction on my end.Just keep getting tired of the "chase your tail" mindset trying to get EVERYTHING in perfect alignment.Which isn't how we roll,"intheshop".We're pretty self sufficient from a design/engineer/tooling standpoint.Frustration sets in when having to rely on outside suppliers.
I will say,it ain't the customer!They have been off the hook,easy peazy to work with.Money just isn't an issue for them.
It's traction on my end.Just keep getting tired of the "chase your tail" mindset trying to get EVERYTHING in perfect alignment.Which isn't how we roll,"intheshop".We're pretty self sufficient from a design/engineer/tooling standpoint.Frustration sets in when having to rely on outside suppliers.
RicinYakima
High Steppes of Eastern Washington
Things are not getting better! After I was forcibly retired as a Firefighter/medic, I started my own business. I could never be efficient because suppliers were late, transporters would not show up on time, customers would not pay, etc. Not only was a handshake no worth spit, contracts were not honored. Go to court, get a judgement. Collect? Not a chance. That is why I worked as a wage slave for another 18 years, much easier. And made three times the amount of money.
Ian
Notorious member
THE definition of my 8-5.
Good stuff guys,thanks.
I swear,what's beyond funny... it isn't about money.And I know there's guys on here that have,"been there".Ain't really about respect either.... that's a simple,put up or shut up.
Fame?... dang,most shide(is that correct) away from it.We want to apply our craft,and keep what momentum we build,"on the boil".Then.... Boom,some excuse comes in from a supplier.
Tripping on back a few decades.... one of the,not so insignificant things that got us where we are now was;"the buck stops here".Meaning,by the time your job/problem hit my desk,you'd pretty much exhausted all other venues.There were no more excuses,put up and.... oh,BTW here's a wad of cash.
It got VERY addictive.Enjoying the fact that we were the last stand so to speak.Now,for a variety of reasons,folks think that there's some kind of magic?Just sayin,BW
I swear,what's beyond funny... it isn't about money.And I know there's guys on here that have,"been there".Ain't really about respect either.... that's a simple,put up or shut up.
Fame?... dang,most shide(is that correct) away from it.We want to apply our craft,and keep what momentum we build,"on the boil".Then.... Boom,some excuse comes in from a supplier.
Tripping on back a few decades.... one of the,not so insignificant things that got us where we are now was;"the buck stops here".Meaning,by the time your job/problem hit my desk,you'd pretty much exhausted all other venues.There were no more excuses,put up and.... oh,BTW here's a wad of cash.
It got VERY addictive.Enjoying the fact that we were the last stand so to speak.Now,for a variety of reasons,folks think that there's some kind of magic?Just sayin,BW
Ian
Notorious member
Also the definition of my 8-5. Have over 400 vendors in my Rolodex, and they get used. One time I tracked down the guy who used to be a machinist's apprentice in the basement of a brick building in Indiana making brass pilot valves for mid-'70s Gardner-Denver screw compressors. I needed a -K valve and all that anyone had ever heard of were -A. Pressures are different, but the literature is lost to time. About 30 phone calls and two weeks got me the guy who remembered the setting and supplied a new spring for the one-off part. Got a shop in Tulsa, Ok. right now turning a 3" compressor shaft for a drilling rig PTO from blueprints, part has been out of production for four decades. Easy one last week was a 4" cylinder sleeve assembly for a 1951 Super M, and of course the gasquets to do the job. Doing the impossible for the sometimes grateful and sometimes paying customers because no one else can or will...that's my job description. Don't get me started on the lazy, worthless, self-entitled "parts counterpersons" who work at truck dealerships...every day is a new day to them, start each morning with a cuppa joe and a blank mind.
Tell me now, will you really miss it? I won't, not for a second.
smokeywolf
Well-Known Member
Ian, I never realized how much your present occupation resembles mine when I was purchasing manager for Metrocolor (MGM Film Laboratories). I had to source parts and assemblies from all over the world. Back in 1988 (Pre-www) it was no easy task to find woodruff keys in type 316 stainless. Keys in 18-8 and 17-4 PH could be found without too much problem.
If you ever need woodruff keys in 316 stainless, call Standard Horse Nail in New Brighton, PA
http://www.timesonline.com/b8a6ebac-e724-11e6-b42d-13f090ba5636.html
No, I have no interest in the company. I just remember vendors who came through for me.
If you ever need woodruff keys in 316 stainless, call Standard Horse Nail in New Brighton, PA
http://www.timesonline.com/b8a6ebac-e724-11e6-b42d-13f090ba5636.html
No, I have no interest in the company. I just remember vendors who came through for me.
Chris
Well-Known Member
Well here's a story many self-employed guys can relate to... maybe you've heard it:
The Labor Bureau determined that a farmer was not paying proper wages to his staff and sent an investigator out to interview him.
"I need a list of your employees and how much you pay them!", demanded the investigator.
"Well," replied the farmer, "there's my farm hand who's been with me for three years. I pay him $500 a week plus free room and board. I also pay his health insurance”.
"Then there's the halfwit. He works about 18 hours every day and does about 90% of all the work around here. He makes about $10 a week. He pays his own room and board, but I buy him a bottle of whiskey every Saturday night. I let him sleep with my wife occasionally."
"That's the guy I want to talk to ...the halfwit!" said the agent.
“Well, that would be me," replied the farmer.
Ian
Notorious member
In such a position you quickly find the "go-to" people, there are a few out there still but are a dying breed. Case in point, last year I had a Dresser wheel loader in here needing a water pump. No big deal, '82 model, IH engine, common as dirt. Except when they're not. This particular model had a "heavy duty" water pump designed for the air-conditioned engines, bigger shaft, extra groove on the pulley, different fan hub, will not interchange with the ones that I can get tomorrow from any number of places and that pump was made by a company in Germany which is no longer in business. There are exactly two places on the globe which can overhaul that particular water pump, one in England and one in west Texas, both run by gentlemen in their 80s. New shaft has to be turned, four-pack of speical "Yerman" bearings (have to come from across the pond, no interchange for them), special seal packing made of rope, $600 and a month later I'm in business. It's a daily thing, and yes, I still have to use the phone for most of this stuff, call a guy who knows a guy who knows a guy until I get what I need, or find out the last person who knew is dead or retired. Lots of times I've had people digging through dusty warehouses looking for some obscure, obsolete part for me.
RicinYakima
High Steppes of Eastern Washington
Yep, you need car parts I found nos complete rebuild kit for 1954 Hudson Jetliner Twin H about 10 years ago. Just got to know the right people. You guys are them!!!!
358156 hp
At large, whereabouts unknown.
Gee Ian, you just described about 25 years of my life. $20,000.00 worth of effort to keep a $10,000.00 machine running for a little while longer. If I never see another 621/23H Cat, life will indeed be good. I do have to say that the D336 engine paid a lot of my bills for many years. I think all the old Cat scrapers around here ended up being sold to the chinese for scrap around ten years ago, or maybe they went to central/south America. Thankfully, that's where the old excavators & trucks went.
358156 hp
At large, whereabouts unknown.
Hudson? I have a guy...
RBHarter
West Central AR
Man I installed brand new parts older than that ........
Left side retract rod for a 1954 I think "C" model Bonanza getting the part wasn't a big deal I just called the guy who called the guy that called the guy with a warehouse full . When it arrived a week later it was in it's pristine 1951 cosmopack from the Canadian forge and foundry .
Wait that's exactly the opposite of the situation you guys described the parts were readily available promptly shipped just 40 yr old when they arrived .
Skins now that's fun . None of those available so it's cut fit form match drill ......just writing it down makes me hate it all over again .
Been through the parts not available thing too . Scratch build and bag form a piece of a part that was stamp formed in about 10 seconds and it takes 2 hours to get it close and 1 missed hammer strike to start all over .........
Left side retract rod for a 1954 I think "C" model Bonanza getting the part wasn't a big deal I just called the guy who called the guy that called the guy with a warehouse full . When it arrived a week later it was in it's pristine 1951 cosmopack from the Canadian forge and foundry .
Wait that's exactly the opposite of the situation you guys described the parts were readily available promptly shipped just 40 yr old when they arrived .
Skins now that's fun . None of those available so it's cut fit form match drill ......just writing it down makes me hate it all over again .
Been through the parts not available thing too . Scratch build and bag form a piece of a part that was stamp formed in about 10 seconds and it takes 2 hours to get it close and 1 missed hammer strike to start all over .........
Won't even be a retirement 2.0 for me, far too happy with retirement 1.0. Only downside I've discovered in 6 years of retirement is when ya wake up and your first thought is . . . It's Saturday . . . And your second thought is . . . So what.
RicinYakima
High Steppes of Eastern Washington
Rick, Saturday is for work around the house and Sunday for observances and family. Try never to do anything else. Monday through Friday are for play and shooting and having fun. Take the RV out Sunday afternoon, maybe, and stay until Friday night. It is wonderful!!!
Bret4207
At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
I have to say that while I can sympathize with the "parts hunting" end of this, some of us are actually a lot better off today than 10-15 years back. These days I can get on line and get parts for, for instance, David Brown tractors from all over the world in just a few days, or less if I want to pay higher shipping costs. 20 years back you went to dealer and got to listen to how no parts were available and how you needed to buy one of his brand tractors or you'd pretty much die. Even better was trying to get chainsaw parts back in the early 80's. You get a nice enough fella bring in an "off brand" saw, something there were no dealers for in our area- a Poulan (they used to make pro saws), Jonsered, Sachs Dolmar. Or it would be a catalog saw- Sears, Wards, Speigel, Western Auto, etc. You'd find out what was wrong, find a company address, write a letter to the company asking for a wholesalers name, wait, get a reply and write a letter to the wholesaler asking for a dealer list, wait, get a reply that may or may not help, write a letter to a dealer or maybe 3 dealers outlining the issue, wait, get a response...or not, write more letters to other dealers, wait, get a reply from a guy 2300 miles away that had what he claimed was that one part you needed left in America for 10X what the saw originally sold for, check with the saw owner and then send off a check if he wanted it, wait and then get the wrong part in the mail!
If nothing else, the ease of getting on line and ordering parts makes life a lot easier, to say nothing of being able to compare prices immediately. It ain't all bad!
If nothing else, the ease of getting on line and ordering parts makes life a lot easier, to say nothing of being able to compare prices immediately. It ain't all bad!
Bret4207
At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
For those looking towards retirement, I can heartily recommend staying as far away from sheep farming as possible, or any type of agriculture for that matter. Look into something more lucrative and easier on the body- MMA cage fighting with no training whatsoever, drug dealing, pimping, perhaps becoming a crash test dummy. Almost anything pays better and involves less pain...