Today's adventure in Bureaucratic BS.

I get Power Points on cellphone use in a company vehicle and defensive driving. I need to acknowledge that I read through the bulls...er... informative Power Points and sign a form that I understood the company cellphone policy as it applies to company vehicles. Basically, no texting while driving and no driving with the phone in your hand. Normal no brainer crap.

The two signatures at the bottom of the policy are two of the biggest violators of this policy. Don't know how many times I've told those two clowns that if you need to get hold of me, call. Do not text because I'm probably driving. Not an hour later, I get a text from one of them. I ignore it. I get another text with in ten minutes. I ignore that one. Third text within five minutes. Ignored. Finally get a call wanting to know why I'm ignoring their texts. Usual answer is "What did I say before I left? I wouldn't answer texts while I'm driving. Is it that hard to understand?" So far, best response I gotten so far is, "Doesn't your bluetooth radio read texts back?" (my wife's car does) My response, "No, my company vehicle is 12 years old and lucky it has a bluetooth radio. I'm gonna need a brand new company vehicle for that to happen. Not a sales dudes' hand me down." That usually works for a couple of weeks.

funny you should post that while I was browsing for 2DIN adapter kits for the new van I should be receiving this week :D Though it`s a hand me down as well, hence the adapter as I got the ICE on the shelf from a couple vans ago, too pricey to give with so I held onto it.

You should have just referred them back to the PPT presentation. :D

https://www.chinariders.net/attachme...1&d=1643296021

I think we should take up a collection to get this turned into a bumper sticker for Cheesy!

Working from home, I need to make myself available to the drones at Beaufort from 7am to 4pm. I go dark at 3:30, just because I can but avail myself to western customers and sales guys until about 6.

I'm usually up between 5:30 and 6. Slept in a bit and got up at 6:50. Sitting on my couch with my first cup of coffee and wearing my old guy cardigan when the first email comes in at 7:05. It's to Harold, but I'm copied on it. Drone is looking for a turn signal switch part number. I'm guessing Harold is going to dump it on me so I sit tight. Not a minute later, I get an email from Harold if I know the part number for the turn signal switch for the 360.

Not even getting up off my butt, I type, "It's a Signal-Stat 900 and purchased locally. Probably from Fleet Pride. Punch 900 into the computer. If you don't get a hit, let me know and I'll do more digging."

Not five minutes later, the drone replies that 900 does comes up as a turn signal switch. Don't have any in stock, so he's going through purchasing. I don't bother to tell him that he could run down to Advanced Auto down the road and get one.

Harold calls a couple hours about something else and asks how I remembered the turn signal switch part number. Could be besides installing them in over 200 machines prior to 2017, they are used in about 99% of antique vehicles that didn't come with a factory set up. I pay attention to those things.

Man... Just... I can't. Lol. I didn't tell you how many times I've spent forever looking up parts before I called someone else about it. One you said locally, I'd have punched that whole phrase into Google and been on my way to advanced. Lol

Me too.

However, in the drones defense, things like the turn signal switch are not in the parts book because those parts replaced the European parts that won't withstand the environment they are going to be working in. It's in the Build Sheets, but for whatever reason, CS does not have access to those. Also, many of our customers have Preferred Vendors that they have to purchase from. So, even though the UPRR mechanic looking for the switch knows he can go down the street and get it from the local auto parts store for 50% less than we sell it for and walk out of that same auto parts store with it in his hand, he can't.

Out with the new guy to install the missing bushings in the loader booms. The kid has a lot of experience in rigging when you have the equipment to do it, but not a lot in how to do it when you don’t. The proper way to remove the booms would be with slings and an overhead crane. We have one sling and a fork truck.

When the kid said I couldn’t remove the booms without the overhead crane, I said “Watch and learn.” He jumped a lot and was wide eyed once or twice, but everything came off without a hitch. The hardest part was getting the pin out of the primary boom. Without the bushings in it, the damn thing kept shifting and binding the pin. Because of that, it took a couple hours to get the pin out.

Having dinner with the kid last night, he says that he didn’t think it was possible to do what we did with what we had. Told he needed to learn how to improvise on this job.

I’m still waiting to learn if some fcukwit in Beaufort is going to be held accountable for this latest fiasco.

I know that feeling. It was a pain to deal with. I've bypassed the preferred vendor a few times, and got yelled at for it. Now, as long as I have a receipt to go with it, they don't argue so much about it. Sometime, you just gotta bite the bullet. lol.

Good Lord. That was a job getting the missing bushings installed in those two booms. I wore out the new guy.
He has one bad habit that I’m trying to break him of and that’s being the ‘Bull In The China Shop’. He has to use biggest hammer and put everything he has behind it. He wants the part in now. I finesse stuff. It takes a bit longer, but then I don’t need repair the part that was bludgeoned into place. It took two cylinder hones to deal with the bludgeoned bushing. I made him buy them and use them. I think he got the point.
Because I am old, the kid didn’t want me near the booms when they were being put back on. Insisted that I run the the fork truck. Okay. I’ve installed well over a hundred of these damn things. My crew and I in Elgin for boom install was three guys. One in the loader, one on the fork truck, plus me supervising and getting thing aligned. On a bad day, it was a half hour. I had six guys today, and after 45 minutes I called a halt. I got off the fork truck, left the kid in the loader, and gave him hand signals for about 30 seconds. Stuck a pry bar in the boom to move it the tiniest amount and shoved the pin all the way through by hand. No hammer, no swearing. Experience trumps enthusiasm every time.

Dammit, though, I am beat and want to go home.

Thank you for yesterday's and today's drama updates. I am stuck at home due to all the snow we just got. (Yes I could get out if I wanted to, but I don't need any groceries etc, so not shoveling out the car until tmw.)

Just got back from dinner with the kid. We’re both hurting, but he’s worse than I am.

At least that’s what I let him think.:hehe:

I’m going to bed.

Oh boy! The company now has a LinkedIn page.:tup:

I'm going to paraphrase my Dad here but, "Can't build a quality product, but makes sure it has a LinkedIn page."

(Original quote. "Damn kids' car needs a wash, wax, and tune up but he makes sure that damn 8-track player works." Priorities, Dad. Priorities.)

Reminds me of a quote about the quality of British cars a few decades ago: The English do an excellent job of making burled walnut dashes.

As the former slave to a British car, I concur.