Holidays and New Year

Its that time again, yep the Holidays. Folks are getting visits and time with family. Getting delicious food and new memories to look back on in years to come. Even with all this amazing time with family, friends and loved ones the daily grind is still there waiting for us. Cars still break down, regular services need to be done, and small questions still come up with most automobiles. 

This time we are doing an array of odd jobs and personalized customizations and it is so much fun. The guys here are amazing to watch. Their ideas to solve problems and the solutions they come up with is pure genius. Its MacGyver like to me. I would need google and a team to figure it out... they look at the problem, study it and with in minuets (less often hours) they have the solution. They amaze me daily with things they just know. 

The same item on different cars are called different things. For instance on a Toyota its called a radiator bumper. On a domestic car its a hood bumper. Both do the same thing but everyone's got to be difficult. For me, the one ordering the part, I would greatly appreciate a universal name for all things on automobiles. That is just me wishful thinking. 

I hope you all have an amazing holiday season with love and laughter. I will be back after the new year. Thank you for getting to know me and my place of newly found knowledge.  

Giving Thanks

 Its that time of year again, Thanksgiving and then soon after Christmas. We are considerably slow this time of year for the fact that people are saving money for travels and time off work. Getting to spend with family near and far. I myself have stayed busy with trying to find new ways to get the word out that we have plenty openings for repairs. 

If any of you readers happen to be on Maui and you mention this blog you will get a 10% discount off labor. Just a little extra help this time of year. 

If any of you are wondering what it is that I do let me give you some information.

I start the day off with going over the daily work schedule with the techs and figuring out what will be needed (parts, fluids or labor) to repair the vehicle. Once we are done with that I proceed to check for missed calls and listen to any voice messages that were left over night. I call everyone back and make estimates and services then send them to the customer so they know exactly what it is we will be doing to their vehicle while we have it. No surprises here with what it is we are doing. If a car in the bay needs extra parts or longer diagnosis time I am the one that calls the customer and gets that extra time or parts approved. In other words, "we never charge you or do extra work without your approval." Once you OK what needs to be done I call around and see where we can get the needed parts then order them. 

Everything is ordered and delivered, I double check the prices of each part and invoice to make sure we are all paying the right amount for parts and services. I place an identifier on the part invoice and file it away. Between all this I am answering the phone and ordering parts that are needed for cars that are in the shop. Just like in a kitchen we try to FIFO as well. Most of the times it works out in that order then there are a few times that it doesn't. We've have a car on a rack for weeks waiting on parts from the mainland. (though few and far between) 

That is about it in a nutshell. At the end of every night I clean and sanitize the office, restroom and break area. Its busy and chaotic but I truly enjoy my job. The more I research and learn the more fun I find myself having.

Update

It's been a while since I've continued my journey as a service writer so let's dive in...

11/25/2021 I found out I had Covid. I had to spend quite a bit of time at home in isolation so as not to get others sick as well. The week my body decided to betray me was the week before the guys left for SEMA in Las Vegas. From what I gather they all had a fun time with lots of things there to keep them busy and on the go. New connections were made and ideas of how to stay ahead of the game I am sure were welcomed. 

Being that I was at home away from everyone there is not much to say other than take care of yourselves, drink plenty of water and eat healthily. My case of covid was simple and I recovered fairly fast. It is nothing I would like to do again but it could have been WAY worse.

Thank you for the read and I will continue to do my part in telling you how things go from behind the grease. 

Learning Curve

 

     If you have any questions, concerns, ideas or even just would like more information on getting some work done here at the shop, I am here to help. 
     So another week and the learning is different daily. One day I am looking for parts that go to a new vehicle. The next hour I am looking up parts for a classic.
     The daily struggle for me is the lingo. What one company calls one thing the next one will call the EXACT same part something totally different! Who said you can't reach an old dog new tricks? I am going to get this if its the last thing I learn! (what I tell myself when I'm getting frustrated)
    Yesterday was spent looking up parts for a retro late 80's vehicle. Google was not my friend and had to call all of our part vendors, who I am sure are tired of my voice, and realizing how expensive it is to keep an older model safely on the road. I myself drive an older model SUV and have decided to stop dropping tons of cash on repairs to it. I try to do them myself but some I truly just don't want to deal with the being filthy at the end SOOO I pay someone else to get dirty for me.
    Yes, yes I know, "you work AT a shop!" I still have to pay the guys for their time and all the parts I need. I have learned something about myself  "I can do it, but why should I when someone else could do it faster and I don't need to crawl on the ground?" I  am grateful they provide me the service I no longer wish to do. I'm going to leave the hard work for the younger kids and I am just going to enjoy NOT doing it. 
     Being in the service industry most of my adult life I enjoy my jobs, YES every single one of them. Some I didn't enjoy for long and others I now know were the best times of my life. I have made some great lifelong friends turned to family but being able to share what you learned and the issues you had learning is what makes us, well US. This job I now enjoy to the fullest is a new experience every day and its AMAZING. I still get to meet new people, talk story with others, and have a new outlook toward all the work that goes on behind the scene at almost every repair shop. 

Behind The Grease

     For those of you who know me, you already know this story and for those of you just joining this wild ride known as my life I'm going to give you a quick recap of the last 10 years.

     After living in California my whole life the guy I was with wanted to come live with his family on Maui. I was ready to take that step forward and try a new adventure so why not?? Life happened and things between him and I didn't work out and we split. Just days later we found out we were going to be parents, our best surprise EVER! Being that I was older and pregnant my doctor took me out of work and ordered me to take it easy. Again life keeps rolling and after our blessing was born I lost two amazing men just weeks of each other, My dad and Uncle lost their battle with lung cancer. 
     More time passed and I got a new job. One willing to work around the hours I need to be a mom and still put food on the table. Covid hit and life came to a crashing halt. I was lucky enough to keep my job and the hours needed to be a mom and make money but the stress was getting to me. Life happened yet again and I made the choice to leave that amazing place in order to find something I could learn from and grow. 
     I found myself talking to the owner of Otto Shop Maui and they needed to hire someone to be their service writer and well I found something new I was eager to learn about with an amazing chance to learn more. So present day that is what I am doing, I work for Otto at his shop trying to keep things running smoothly and help with the part of the job that is behind the grease.  

     I have been here working just over a month and so far so good. I am really enjoying the new job and skills I'm learning. Most of the time people would refer to someone not well educated as "the mechanic" of the group. I have since learned that is NOT true in the slightest. ANY person in a specialized trade is AMAZING, the way they just KNOW what needs to be done... crazy and astonishing all at once. 

     I am going to leave you here today with that bit of info and will try to update you weekly on things going on in the shop and behind the grease. 

Please ask any questions you might have.