Trailer Park Casanova
10-12-2003, 04:19 PM
Boating over to Avalon, eventually most people find themselves sitting and raising a glass or two at the Marlin Club Bar.
No telling who'll sit down next to you. Honest, in all sincerity, it could be the President of Bank of America, The lot porter from Long Beach Ford, Bruce Brown of the surf movie fame, Walter Cronkite the CBS newsguy, ya never know.
One time, we were sitting at the bar just a few minutes after it opened.
A couple came in, took one look around, then was about to leave and I spoke out loud: "The place was designed to look like a dive,, don't be discouraged,, come on the first round is on us."
They came back and sat down. After some time,, they love it.
We eventually learned the guy owned a Jaguar dealership. I told him I had givin up Jag for lost and he said that Jag now is making every effort to compete with Lexus. His big problem was finding good mechanics.
A friend of mine is a super Jag mechanic. He worked for an independant shop, and usually griped about it's a slow shop,, not much work.
The Jag dealer owner wrote down his personal phone number,, and said have my friend call him.
We'll, it took a couple of weeks for my friend to finally call, got hired and now makes a lot of money turning a wrench. He gets sent to England for schooling, and has now been sent to England for school for the new super nice Aston Martin.
The service manager said he's the best find ever, the best mechanic they've ever seen.
On another occasion, I bought my daughter a new Miata for her 16th birthday.
The car had a loss of power problem and the dealer was having fits trying to find the cause.
When ya have a 16 year old daughter, two things happen. Boys hang around trying to get into her pants,, and other parents are around because they need a babysitter.
One such parent was a super mechanic.
He raced Indy Cars. I don't know if it was league or what circuit, or what class, perhaps ammature. Damfino. Probably a minor league of some sort. I never asked, but we learned that he built Indy cars for other teams. He made his living doing it. I never heard of him winning anything with his own raceing,, just a slaphappy guy who just worked on and built Indy cars with two employees, and they traveled around racing in the lesser races we assumed. Damfino.
The Indy cars he built and sold were awsum, the cars he raced were pretty shop worn like he raced for a 6 pack of Bud or bragging rights.
Nothing sounds like an Indy engine. I would wager nothing is as loud,, but what a cool unique sound.
We just knew them as John and Kathy.
OK, back to the daughters Miata problem.
The Indy car neighbor stopped by to ask my daughter if she could watch their newborn baby.
He asked how she liked her Miata, and she said it was giving her fits.
Within minutes the car was on his back yard hoist (a backyard and garage we all dream about) and he and his Indy mechanics were at it,, looking for the trouble.
They found it almost immediatly (fuel system problem) and he accompanied my daughter to the Mazda dealer and he explained to the service manger what he found.
They at the Mazda dealer knew who he was, were impressed, and listened closely.
All was resolved,,, and life was good for sis and her new Miata..
Experiences like these are soooo cool. I have so much respect for tallented honest mechanics.
You all must have some good mechanics stories to tell:
[ October 12, 2003, 07:00 PM: Message edited by: Trailer Park Casanova ]
No telling who'll sit down next to you. Honest, in all sincerity, it could be the President of Bank of America, The lot porter from Long Beach Ford, Bruce Brown of the surf movie fame, Walter Cronkite the CBS newsguy, ya never know.
One time, we were sitting at the bar just a few minutes after it opened.
A couple came in, took one look around, then was about to leave and I spoke out loud: "The place was designed to look like a dive,, don't be discouraged,, come on the first round is on us."
They came back and sat down. After some time,, they love it.
We eventually learned the guy owned a Jaguar dealership. I told him I had givin up Jag for lost and he said that Jag now is making every effort to compete with Lexus. His big problem was finding good mechanics.
A friend of mine is a super Jag mechanic. He worked for an independant shop, and usually griped about it's a slow shop,, not much work.
The Jag dealer owner wrote down his personal phone number,, and said have my friend call him.
We'll, it took a couple of weeks for my friend to finally call, got hired and now makes a lot of money turning a wrench. He gets sent to England for schooling, and has now been sent to England for school for the new super nice Aston Martin.
The service manager said he's the best find ever, the best mechanic they've ever seen.
On another occasion, I bought my daughter a new Miata for her 16th birthday.
The car had a loss of power problem and the dealer was having fits trying to find the cause.
When ya have a 16 year old daughter, two things happen. Boys hang around trying to get into her pants,, and other parents are around because they need a babysitter.
One such parent was a super mechanic.
He raced Indy Cars. I don't know if it was league or what circuit, or what class, perhaps ammature. Damfino. Probably a minor league of some sort. I never asked, but we learned that he built Indy cars for other teams. He made his living doing it. I never heard of him winning anything with his own raceing,, just a slaphappy guy who just worked on and built Indy cars with two employees, and they traveled around racing in the lesser races we assumed. Damfino.
The Indy cars he built and sold were awsum, the cars he raced were pretty shop worn like he raced for a 6 pack of Bud or bragging rights.
Nothing sounds like an Indy engine. I would wager nothing is as loud,, but what a cool unique sound.
We just knew them as John and Kathy.
OK, back to the daughters Miata problem.
The Indy car neighbor stopped by to ask my daughter if she could watch their newborn baby.
He asked how she liked her Miata, and she said it was giving her fits.
Within minutes the car was on his back yard hoist (a backyard and garage we all dream about) and he and his Indy mechanics were at it,, looking for the trouble.
They found it almost immediatly (fuel system problem) and he accompanied my daughter to the Mazda dealer and he explained to the service manger what he found.
They at the Mazda dealer knew who he was, were impressed, and listened closely.
All was resolved,,, and life was good for sis and her new Miata..
Experiences like these are soooo cool. I have so much respect for tallented honest mechanics.
You all must have some good mechanics stories to tell:
[ October 12, 2003, 07:00 PM: Message edited by: Trailer Park Casanova ]