Perspective

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Mike Laws
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Perspective

Post by Mike Laws »

My apologies to the mod's if not in the proper topic. Engine building easily fits the subject:

Thankfully, Jay Leno is recovering from his accident and is doing fine. In a article penned for the Hagerty Magazine, he eloquently puts into words something I have been thinking about for some time. Its worth the read. Thanks Jay
"Once I had a gentleman on The Tonight Show who had climbed Mount Everest, which is an amazing feat that is nearly impossible for most people under the best of circumstances. But this guy was also blind. Imagine being 29,000 feet up, grabbing at snow, not knowing if it’s night or day, with the wind howling and every breath a challenge, and you can’t see anything. Anyway, he was a nice gentleman and an incredible athlete who afterward had been doing motivational speaking. I asked him how it was going and he sort of grimaced. He said the frustrating part was the meet-and-greet after, when at least one person in every audience would come up and say, “Yeah, I was going to climb Mount Everest, but, you know, the kids have soccer and work is crazy and I just haven’t gotten around to it.”
Like it was so easy except, you know, soccer practice. Here this fellow had trained his whole life to do something that maybe one out of 10 million people can do, had endured incredible hardship, and had even overcome the fact that he was blind, and people were so dismissive of it.
Maybe it’s because life has gotten pretty soft and we don’t make anything for ourselves anymore, but we’re losing respect for other people’s accomplishments and hard work, for what the human hand can do instead of just the human brain. I hear this all the time from guys who have their cars restored and who have never turned a wrench in their lives: All mechanics are crooks, they’ll overcharge you at every turn. They’ll moan about the high cost of a paint job, for example, not realizing that the paint is $600 a quart and somebody has to spend hours sanding it and finishing it because a good finish doesn’t come out of a rattle-can of Rust-Oleum.
Our appreciation or understanding of other people’s hard work is fading, and that rankles me. The last time I pulled a transmission out of something here at the garage, it took hours and my hands were bleeding and covered in grease, and I thought, “Some guy only makes a couple hundred bucks for doing that?” That’s why I don’t usually question a quote for something we need to get done outside the garage. Good work doesn’t seem expensive when you think about how much actual effort goes into it, and that someone needs to be able to make a living doing it or else nobody will do it. Besides, I have yet to meet anyone who is getting rich by sandblasting rusty parts or re-chroming bumpers. They’re not overcharging—in fact, they’re probably undercharging.
Well, nowadays we watch these shows where they restore a car in a weekend, literally, and it seems so easy. The sparks are flying and guys are trying to ram a big-screen TV into the dash, and after a couple of commercial breaks and some pounding music, the car is done. It gives people an unrealistic picture of what it takes to restore a car—the thousands of hours, many of which are never billed. Just the amount of research a restorer has to do, figuring out how things go together and what is supposed to be original, is huge.
These days, Amazon will drop a package on your doorstep the same day you order it, so we’re also losing touch with how long things take in the real world. A very famous country western star called me not long ago and said, “It’s my husband’s birthday, he’s always wanted a 1953 Ford F-100, a red one, and I want to get one for his birthday. Can you get me one?” I said I couldn’t promise it would be red, but I would look around. Then I asked when his birthday is. She said, “Thursday.” I said, “This is Tuesday! I’m not going to find a car in two days. It takes awhile!” She didn’t get it.
Next time you’re walking a car show, before you judge some guy because his paint isn’t perfect, think about how much of the work you do yourself. Unlike everything else we buy these days, there’s nothing quick, easy, or cheap about old cars. And while few of us will ever climb Mount Everest, restoring a classic car is enough of a mountain for most people. Give them some credit."
My sentiments exactly~Ted Johnson
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Re: Perspective

Post by panic »

Being rich cures lots of problems.
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Re: Perspective

Post by FuelieNova »

panic wrote: Wed Dec 07, 2022 6:31 pm Being rich cures lots of problems.
Or causes a lot of problems....
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Re: Perspective

Post by hoodeng »

That article is on the money.

The analogy of climbing Everest versus peripheral commitments is spot on, a number of relatively intelligent people that think that because you are below their academic/ business achievements that somehow you are not equal or better than them in a number of other abilities. The actual smart people are the ones that know they are surrounded by people of unlimited skill sets.[Never judge a book by its cover]

Although over the years i have know odd wealthy guys that seem to get what they want at the drop of a hat, yet these same guys will haggle down to bleeding, their take on it is that they are not rich due to generosity.

The reason a skill is a trade is because there is more to it than meets the eye. The skill i admire most was smelting hundreds of years ago, no pyrometers, no phase tables, no accurate chemical composition values,, just a guy looking into a molten vat and knowing what pinch of what would make an alloyed steel/nfm....
And without tinted safety glasses.

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Re: Perspective

Post by tuffxf »

G'day Mike,
Awesome post!
The older I get the more I really appreciate watching someone that has real skills and drive to succeed!
Cheers
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Re: Perspective

Post by prairiehotrodder »

Good post, thanks for sharing. I have come to some of those same conclusions. We have a few farm animals and I will never haggle on the price of an animal. When you understand how much work and care goes into keeping them you come to the realization that whatever the owner is asking is fair.
Also the thoughts about skills are true. I think we as a society have gotten alot dumber than previous generations. consider the people that built the pyramids and what tools they had, consider the easter island statues, there are no end of examples. Last year I got it in my mind that i wanted to build a cannon. I mean a real live cannonball firing cannon. They built them a thousand years ago with what technology they had then. Why couldn't i build one now with all the modern technology we have now ? I watched a few youtube videos and lost interest. Skills like that are hard to find and not easily gained.
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Re: Perspective

Post by rebelrouser »

I agree with the sentiments of the post. In a related way though, I see a lot of people charging for services, and charging well that simply do not know their business. I am semi-retired, and I just try and do performance and restoration work at my shop. Been an automotive technician since 1975, ASE master and all that, taught automotive at a tech college for 26 years. I have two degrees for what it is worth. And I get people all the time asking me to fix stuff. When I say no, they ask me to refer them to a local shop. I am afraid to because I would not trust any of them to repair one of my vehicles. My sister in-law had an engine issue with their 3.6 Chrysler minivan. It takes a special tool set, and my old hands are getting a little stiff for tight spaces, so I declined the repair. I told her to first ask the shops if they had the tool set and second if they had done the repair. Not sure how it will end but the van is torn apart, they did not have the tool set, and I smell It will be getting it towed to my shop before it is all over.
My other pet peeve is young parts counter people trying to argue with me about ordering parts. If I just don't order online now, I give them the parts number when I go to the counter. I usually don't comment but same parts stores have scan tools and give free trouble code diagnosis to customers. This guy had an O2 code, had replaced the O2 twice light was still on. I was standing behind him in line and in a hurry, and I just told them, hey if the code description says circuit problem parts are usually not going to fix it, it is a wiring issue.
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Re: Perspective

Post by panic »

Wealth causes problems?
Can I have some of those please?
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Re: Perspective

Post by PackardV8 »

"A man's got to know his limitations." As a generalist, I am in awe of those who are really, really good at their specialty. I can weld enough to make parts stick together, but I pay the man when I want it to look good. I can run most of the machines in the shop, but I have a guy who's faster and more precise. Instead of best, I've settled for being pretty good at a lot of things. Knowing a little about a lot gives one a perspecitive on who to pay how much to do what.

“A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.”

― Robert A. Heinlein
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Re: Perspective

Post by juuhanaa »

My view of perspective.. and a quote that has stuck in my mind since i heard Jyrki Laukkanen say it.
All the brave are dead
https://fi.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jyrki_Laukkanen



-juhana
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Re: Perspective

Post by PackardV8 »

juuhanaa wrote: Fri Dec 09, 2022 1:22 amAll the brave are dead
Which is why my machinist is so much better at it than I am. He focuses on hitting the tenth on what's in front of him and I'm too often looking toward the end result or even the next project or thinking "what if?" or "why?."
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Re: Perspective

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PackardV8 wrote: Sat Dec 10, 2022 3:05 pm
juuhanaa wrote: Fri Dec 09, 2022 1:22 amAll the brave are dead
Which is why my machinist is so much better at it than I am. He focuses on hitting the tenth on what's in front of him and I'm too often looking toward the end result or even the next project or thinking "what if?" or "why?."
In the moment of destiny (whether it be machining a flywheel, build a race engine, go racing, climb a mountain etc), we basically do not act according to the expectations placed on us, but descend to the level of training.

Having a mechanic background i think its relatively safe to train hard to build race engines, but the end result may not look pretty after you have tried fix all the mistakes, whereas a professional makes it look so easy.



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Re: Perspective

Post by Arthur »

panic wrote: Thu Dec 08, 2022 11:19 am Wealth causes problems?
Can I have some of those please?
You are indeed a rough diamond...
Poor man never hired anyone .
Trouble seeks the wealthy
Wish you luck
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Re: Perspective

Post by Walter R. Malik »

Maybe some people need a more vivid view about "perspective" reality.

Take two bowls, one full of fresh ice cream and the other full of horse crap.
Put a half of teaspoon of that ice cream and mix it into the horse crap; it doesn't change the "perspective" of that bowl much.
Now, take a half teaspoon of that horse crap and mix it into the bowl of ice cream and the "perspective" of that bowl changes tremendously.
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Re: Perspective

Post by stealth »

Driving to work this morning I was listening to CK louis (sp) a comedian talking about this very topic.

Cell phones:

People always complaining about how its not working, I didn't get text, tech issues. NEVER considering the absolutely fantastic invention sitting in their pocket that allows them to call, text, internet, social media... it's an amazing device, but all people do is complain about it if it's not 100% perfect.

Air travel:

People moaning about delays, sitting on runway, layovers, etc.... NEVER considering the gift of flight. It truly is amazing may can sit in a chair
25000 ft above and move through the air in comfort and very safety. Again, people complain ...

Thought it was a good bit.... very true...
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