Anybody here gonna make it to dyno day in Philadelphia this year?

 

Well another great day at the shop. Been kinda slow lately havin to hunt for things to do. You can only clean up so much before there is nothing else to clean. Boss calls me into his office bout 10:15 or so and says "due to lack of work headquaters says I have to cut back. So I'm gonna have to lay you off now." I have been wantin some time to work on my pullin truck but I didn't want to get it like that. But ol' well heck of time to get laid off jus as everything is slowing down. Huh Sorry needed to get that out.

 

Well that sux.

Hopefully this will just be lead to a BETTER job & better pay.
Hang in there!

 

Sorry to here that deereguy. I know the feeling. I have friends that turn wrenches all over and one works at new holland dealer. Said they've cut back to NO overtime and he is gettin nervous cause he is low man on the totem pole. He also pulls a second job at the wholemart and said they laid off 7 people on the night shift and 3 on days or something like that.

Time to work on the pullin truck but hard to do with an empty wallet. I've taken some welding jobs and doing one right now at cut rate prices....just to get the work. You know how hard it is to custom build a handrail and compete with a guy buying prefab handrail?? It's in a good neighborhood with lots of money so hopefully the word will spread, just hopefully not the price.

Good luck hunting, career builder, monster are good places to look. I saw a few postings of interest a few weeks ago, CSX, Vanderbilt looking for mechanics.

If I can be of any help let me know

 

well realized again why I have the flatbed on the truck. You guys that have been to my place know what my driveway looks like going up the hill with the fence on either side and the gate and posts at the bottom.

Well got home around 8pm last night and had to back up the driveway from the bottom by the road with the trailer, it's just more simple than turning around up top and then going back down to park the trailer.

So I got that done, pretty much a normal thing as much as I have used the trailer lately. I decided that I'd just pull forward and back the truck up the rest of the driveway. Thought about how bad the reverse lights are at night and went ahead with it anyway. I pull forward and start to back up figuring I'll line the driver side up with the posts and follow that line. Only got a few feet when I heard the gate start to bang and crunch and thought son of a gun I'm.......wait a minute, it's the flatbed.

No real damage to gate, none to the 9000lb + truck/flatbed combo. Yep, glad I put on the flatbed!!

I guess its time to reinstall my work lights someplace on the back. Got out the other night working late and could'nt see a darn thing. Told my wife, "wish I had my work lights" like when it was a regular bed truck. She agreed.

Got my 1st residential handrail job done yesterday evening. The client was thrilled with how they looked. I was proud of them myself. The powder coating looked great, all the time I took smoothing off fillet welds on the balisters really gave them a clean look. Handed out somemore business cards and the client said I could use them as a reference if needed.

Slowly but surely building this thing up. Got a big job approved the other day. $8000 job! Get started on that one next weekend. Also been told about an even bigger job I'll get to put a bid on probably beginning of next year.

Why did'nt I start doing this 10 years ago?? Would'nt be poor from being a "proffesional mechanic". Heck, the tool bills are in comparison are way less doing the welding. Plus my welder will at least hold it's value. Sold a 2 year old scan tool, for checking codes on cars, think I'll get $300 for it if I'm lucky. I paid over $1200 for it.

I know if I wanted to sell my welder tomorrow I could make my money back on it.

 

Hey Boz, you still floating around here someplace? I swear that is you I see going down McGavock in Nashville. I right there on the left when you turn left on McGavock off Demonbreun. Saw you Thursday or Friday and watched you go towards Demonbreun and thought I heard you goose the throttle a bit.

If all goes well we'll be on that section of the street til next October.

Almost done with my second set of stairs. These are some big suckers!!

Guess in another month or so I'll have to find time to start planning our 3rd annual dyno day in Smyrna. Probably be March. Just have to watch when school break is so people are'nt doing that thing I here about all the time, something called vacation???

 

I can't wait! We sure had a good time last year.

 

It sure was! I thought i recognized your truck and when i saw you standing there i goosed it alittle. Ive been working on that big monstrosity down the street (the Icon in the Gulch, the one that for the most part is finished) for a little over a year.

 

that's the one across the street from terazzo or something? I've been over there a few times when I was with United fixing equipment. They've been blasting up condos all over the place.....hopefully with the economy they'll actually fill them.

We're gonna be working on some new restuarants around there for the new residents.

 

Thats the one. The condos are selling its just slow. Alot of people that pre-purchased cant afford them now so they're having to resell most of them.

 

Heck I spent the better part of a week building those stairs outside that building where my truck was at. This week I go inside to do about a two day handrail. Week after I'll probably start on some aluminum awnings.......then in January we move down the street to three other buildings.

I heard those condos were pretty pricey. One of the salesman I used to know said he heard that $5000 down would get you in. He said he was thinking about doing it and then when it opened sell it or something like that. This has been over a year ago I guess, don't know if it was one of those or one from brasfield and gore job down on third. Bet if he did it he's kickin' himself right now with the way the economy is! Heck, my stock the day of the election was climbing and had over $400...this thursday it was worth $198!! It's all penny stock, think I've only invested $200 total.

 

Well, been a bit slow here lately so I've been busy building boxes on the truck to clean it up, organize and so on. The one for the tanks was just because I was looking at this mass of wasted space at the rack with that skinny at the top, thick at the bottom shape. Gonna make another one for the other side and that's gonna be for my small stuff, screws, anchors, c-clamps and all that stuff I have in that long skinny box which I absolutely hate.

behind the wheel, still needs paint, undercoat and so on. Cable reels going in here.....


This is for my tanks, hose.......


I'll post up the picks when I get the reels mounted. I'm trying to make it so the cable reels slide out. I can't hook them permanent cause they won't be live reels, so I have to leave a connection off the ends, but will have the cable hooked at the welder and run under the truck into the box where I can just hook them after I spool them out. Should work out good and then I can unreel 120' of cable instead of winding, rolling and all that.

 

Lookin' good.

 

Looks good dodgeguy

 

Yea, the boxes look good Shawn, they look heavy TOO! LOL, later....