If this inflation keeps up it might be all I can afford!

Milk might end up costing $1000 a gallon! 

Nah, I don't do it in secret, I whip out my junk and do it for my boss to see. As I pee in his cheerios I also maintain eye contact with him.

SELLC wrote:

---

Remind me to never let PowerStroker swim in my pool! 

---

 

LOL ! I wouldn't be concerned about your pool SELLC, it's breakfast when you'd want to keep your eyes wide open !

-- Edited by Rastus on Wednesday 25th of August 2021 03:26:05 AM

PowerStroker has reached a threshold, of where he will not use manners & kind words, so that the brute-force of what he wants to say comes across, as indicated by his new avatar.

I personally miss his old avatar...Classic lol !

Grocery prices headed higher: Kroger

Beef prices have risen 14% this year while pork prices have jumped 12.1%, and poultry prices are up 6.6%.

https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/grocery-prices-to-rise-kroger

I understand what you're saying but this is not just limited to the meat packing industry if you have been paying any attention.

Anymore it's common to have a few resturants on the strip closed down on any given day due to lack of help or food...

I am seriously going to have to raise my labor rate to $90 an hour to keep up! That's $20 more per hour! 

If things don't change with inflation before the 1st of the year, maybe sooner - I'll have no choice! This is in addition to what auto parts cost have gone up, which at times feels like 100% depending on the part!

Yes the kid did move out and in with his girlfriend for awhile, then he moved back here with his girlfriend so it's all balancing out to be the same as always... except now that nobody wants to work his skills are more valuable and he's working elsewhere for a little bit more than he was making with me, but putting in three times the hours! It's all messed up, and while him and his girlfriend are at that age of eating out all the time, they still gobble up utilities. It has gotten so bad that Brandee has started referring to their rooms as Room 101 and Room 102 because she thinks they live like this place is a hotel! Even she has floated the idea of more compensation for her services in the home engineerial department!

As for my youngest who will soon be 18, but going full time to High School in his Senior year, Biden is sending me $250 every 15th of the month to help buy his meat. But he has learned from his brother and gotten a job and is just socking away all kinds of cash without a single bill! Just literally living off the fat of the land! And he is so cheap! In his defense, he did learn from the best. 

So now it's just me working, and while I rather enjoy what I do - it don't take much to get me behind. There are lots of moving parts in any repair, at least when you're doing it for compensation as a legit business. I have to cover all the bases and shift thru all the gears wearing many different hats! I'm not complaining, I'm just saying that I'm not as quick as I used to be and my recharge time takes longer than I remember. 

I have only been in business for 20 years, full time self employment. That must really piss the Government off... 

My dealership's door rate is $163/hr, I think you could go up to 90 pretty easily.

Rastus wrote:

---

Push your labor-rates up, you have no choice here...

Perhaps offer a free-quote for services needed after you inspect the vehicle, & then settle on a fixed price quote for labor to do the job, with some flexibility in part costs, as this takes time & other people to source...Or even suggest that the customer source their own parts.

A MB dealership down this way is likely charging well over $160:00 per hour.

---

 

It's one of them things... I'm no Mercedes dealership, or a Ford Dealer for that matter.

Guess it kind of puts into perspective why maybe the kid went to work elsewhere and why they can afford to pay him that.

People sourcing their own parts is really a long drawn out process unless they cover all their bases, and even then there are going to be times you won't even know about some parts until you're in there. I still allow it, but there is no guarantee or warranty of any kind regardless if it's a factory part. 

Seems like the big boys are making a cool $100 more per hour than I am in some cases! Being a small business person I do realize they have much more overhead and employee obligations to command these prices.

I just feel lucky to have good customers... so I circle the waggons around my low labor rate and try and pass on my savings. But if things keep going this way with parts shortages here and there and cost increases I'll be hard pressed to maintain the circle.

Nobody likes price increases, and I'd be obligated to tell everyone up front so there was no surprise. I wouldn't enjoy that so I hold out hope the SBA is going to help me seperate my business from my personal but they just don't want to do it. I've got more than I was asking for in just equipment assets, twice or three times if you include all my inventory! That's not even including the personal assets! I'm telling you things are way effed-up!

I had two months there where I was just flat dead! NOTHING! Even fixed the Mercedes it was so slow!

So yeah, it's enough to keep you up some nights.

SELLC said qt.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"The Government has done nothing but fail me, and in some cases I might even go so far as to say it's tried to torpedo me a few times too! So forgive me if I don't trust your CDC, or Vaccine... I have already seen how these people operate and they are not operating on any logic that would be understandable by any small business, let alone a human in general" !
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Well said !!!

-- Edited by Rastus on Monday 13th of September 2021 02:12:40 AM

$8 a gallon for gas in some parts of California!

And now the liberal media outlets are trying to spin this and blame the consumer by saying that there is not a shortage, people are just buying more!

Total bullshit! 

It's like, HEY ASSHOLES! You see them 100 cargo ships anchored off the port of Los Angeles? 

These fucking people have really crossed the line! 

I guess PowerStroker's buddy "Mayor Pete" has really screwed the pooch in his job as transportation secretary! Look at the mess of things! And where is he? On maternity leave! You can't make this shit up folks!

SELLC wrote:

---

$8 a gallon for gas in some parts of California!

And now the liberal media outlets are trying to spin this and blame the consumer by saying that there is not a shortage, people are just buying more!

Total bullshit! 

It's like, HEY ASSHOLES! You see them 100 cargo ships anchored off the port of Los Angeles? 

These fucking people have really crossed the line! 

I guess PowerStroker's buddy "Mayor Pete" has really screwed the pooch in his job as transportation secretary! Look at the mess of things! And where is he? On maternity leave! You can't make this shit up folks!

---

 Actually, its only one spot on PCH above San Simeon. This spot has always been higher than anywhere else, capturing poorly prepared tourists. We always laughed at those lines waiting to be fleeced.

San Simeon is just south of Big Sur, home to Hearst Castle. William Randolph Hearst, newspaper magnate and inspiration for the Orson Wells film, Citizen Kane. Twisted rich folks!! Lol

Rosebud!

Rosebud indeed...

Another something that we'll never get to the bottom of, except to say that the only things guaranteed in life are death & taxes ;) !

SELLC wrote:

---

Okay... I have to know...

What is this "rosebud" reference? I don't get it...

---

 

*** WARNING...SPOILER....***

 

"Rosebud" are / is the last words spoken by Mr. Kane, in the movie "Citizen Kane"...It's a great film, & well worth your time to watch...In fact, the whole film is based around a reporter trying to find-out what "Rosebud" means...

Grab your pop-corn folks...

SELLC wrote:

---

Oh shit... now I'm going to have to watch the movie to figure out the reference! Or even worse yet, still wondering what it all means!

---

 

SELLC, it's a f***ing awesome film...One of the greats...

In fact, it wouldn't be too far away from Mr.Trumpdt's life story to be quite honest...Many parallels, though not identical.

They just have to learn to say NO, that's all...

Or, we've run-out-of-food sorry ;) !

I have never had a problem saying no to a customer.

A professional has to believe in the treatment... If a customer wants a blinker fluid flush, or a patient wants ivermectin, the professional answer in both cases is no.

I don't stick it to customers. Sometimes customers make a request which would stick it to themselves, and as a professional I decline. Just as any qualified medical professional would decline a patient's request for Ivermectin, or Hydroxychloriquine, or an IV bleach drip as off label treatments for covid. Sometimes making the customer happy isn't the right thing to do.

In my practice of auto repair, I try to elevate the profession to something similar to the practice of medicne. Sometimes a customer's desires or emotional state are irrelevant when trying to achieve this. If you disagree, and feel that making the customer happy regardless of whether the treatment they request is beneficial or not, then how are you any different from a prostitute?

You're Ford's little whore...

They say, "Bring out the gimp!"

There are lots of guys out there that think it's the tool box that makes the mechanic...

I seem to recall you raised your rates. If you don't like inflation maybe you should lead by example and lower them back to where they were. Maybe the rest of the world will follow?

Social Security will still be around when you retire. Your monthly check just won't be as good as today's retirees unless Congress fixes it.

-- Edited by PowerStroker on Friday 31st of December 2021 08:00:23 PM

SELLC wrote:

---

Social Security is heading for insolvency! The age to collect full bennifits has increased to 70!! They gave some BS about life expectancy increasing as the reason for the increase, but after this pandemic I think it's clear that's all just some more BS!

Why are you making excuses for these people? Many will die before they ever collect a penny of Social Security!

It has taken the Governments Small Busines Administration almost TWO YEARS to deny and reconsider my application for Emergency COVID assistance! The Government squanders most of all the money it gets and people like you make exuses for them. 

I'm sorry PowerStroker, but it feels like you have lost your way. There is nothing secure about Social Security for people born after 1970!

---

 

Well said SELLC...Maybe if the Gov't is reminded of how much of your taxes goes into DoD budget, they'll make an amendment...There's no point in having such a hyper-inflated DoD budget, when there'll be no-one around to protect...

1% of your DoD budget is estimated to be able to feed-the-world from poverty, & provide education for all...This means it could do wonders for Social Security ;) !

Well...It came around sooner than I expected, but 9ctane fuel is over the AUD $02:00 mark, & apparently will see a steady climb up to the $02:40 mark, as the idiotic gov't down this way wants to push on "electric car" sales...

So, they'll fuck-over the regular driver & make a shyte-load of $$$, whilst suggesting an electric-car incentive...And there are bugger-all recharging stations btw...

Anyhow, when fuel does get to $02:40 a liter, that will nearly be the equivalent of a US-of-A $10:00 a gallon...

-- Edited by Rastus on Wednesday 9th of February 2022 01:50:15 AM