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My name is Jeff, and I'd like to welcome you on a journey of reflection and insight into the tolls and triumphs of a career in automotive repair.
After more than 20 years of skinned knuckles and tool debt, I want to share my perspective and hear other people's thoughts about our industry.
So pour yourself a strong coffee or grab a cold Canadian beer and get ready for some great conversation.
Angry Bob [00:00:05]:
Last week on the jaded mechanic with angry bob. There's, like a camaraderie now, too, on the Internet, you know, with, with a bunch, like, technicians like myself and yourself and check engine Chuck and all. A lot of reason why I started doing it. I was like, yo, I want to be a part of that. That's different from what I came up with. I came up with this, and now these guys are, you know, they're friends on here, and everybody's working together. I'm like, I dig it, Mandy. And that was why I wanted to be a part of it.
Jeff Compton [00:00:28]:
And now part two, and that's what, like, TikTok has a lot of its detractors, but I find that, like, and it's not that I've never made friends on Facebook. That's so far from the truth. I mean, I have made lifelong friends on Facebook, but TikTok is, like, at a different level, I think, on how fast they interact with each other. I feel like it's. It's minutes, and, and they're, they're, you know, well, we see it. Somebody posts a video, and within seconds, somebody's stitching it, somebody's responding to it, somebody's replying in the comments. It's instantaneous, you know? Whereas Facebook, it's like, you might get back to the end of the day, and there's your comment, and then the next day, and it might go on. Right? Seems to have way more at weekend, I think they have way more conversations.
Jeff Compton [00:01:17]:
That happened, I guess, is what I'm trying to say on tick tock. And then it's like, it never goes away. It still.
Angry Bob [00:01:23]:
And you see him developing. You see the guy showing up at the other guy's house. Like, they give states away. You're like, whoa, like, that's for real. That's a friendship there. Those guys have built. If they're, if that guy lives in Michigan and the other guy lives in, you know, Pennsylvania and they're meeting up, like, they plan that out to do that. So that's, that's a real friendship there.
Angry Bob [00:01:39]:
And to me, that speaks volumes. Genuine. You know what I mean? Like, these guys are, we are all just the same guys. We're just making videos and we're having fun and we're enjoying something positive coming from doing this for a living for once, rather than it being negative. And I sometimes I feed into it, too, and I'm in the comments and I'm. And I don't want to be like that. I want to be the opposite of that angry thing. You know what I mean? That's the whole thing.
Jeff Compton [00:02:03]:
But see, people that know me and they know why I do it. And, you know, I'm unapologetic about it. I cannot stand it when somebody gets on there and immediately says, bob, that's the wrong way to do it. You don't need to do it like that. Like you guys are just trying to rip people off. Whether you're charging an hour for diag to go on like it's always a frigging fuel tank pressure sensor. I come unglued in the comments on those people because it's like, first of all, I know exactly what you are. You're a troll that doesn't fix cars.
Jeff Compton [00:02:29]:
So then I go and it's like, why the f are you following professional mechanics if you're not one people in the world?
Angry Bob [00:02:37]:
That flick, man, they flick. And I can't stand it.
Jeff Compton [00:02:39]:
But I look at it simple as this. And this is what I tell everybody else. You know why they're following is they're trying to learn something from you because then they don't want to come and pay you. They don't want to go into your shop and pay you. They don't want to come into my shop and pay me to do it for them. They're hoping to get the tidbit on the net for free. And that's why I get so mad. Chuck and I have had conversations, but this is like, you should not answer those questions, dude.
Jeff Compton [00:03:00]:
When he's trying to ask you, you.
Angry Bob [00:03:02]:
Know, my, he's a lot nicer than I would be. He's a lot nicer than I would be.
Jeff Compton [00:03:06]:
I told him, listen, dude, it's broken. Take it to a shop and get it fixed. And it gets so mad, oh, they're gonna rip me off there. First of all, who do you think you're offending when you say they're gonna rip you off there, you're talking about my brothers or sister and so are gonna rip you off. Are all of us perfect? No. Are some shady characters? Sure. But I like, at the end of the day, I look at it. If you make the right choice on who, you shouldn't get ripped off.
Jeff Compton [00:03:32]:
If you go look for the cheapest, you're gonna get ripped off. And you're not even, they're not person that's cheap is not intending to rip you off. You just chose cheap. And they didn't have the training. They didn't have the tooling. So, like, when they're in there and they're asking these questions, I lose my ever living mind because it's like, it's like when you're in class, right, and you're having a really good conversation, there's always that one kid that thinks he knows the answer. He's like. And he's trying to, you know, okay, Jimmy.
Jeff Compton [00:03:58]:
And Jimmy says something absolutely ridiculous. And Jimmy's just now taken the whole conversation and drove the train right off the tracks. Like, that's how I look at those guys that are in those threads saying absolutely ridiculous, sometimes offensive things to professionals like myself and yourself. I just come unglued. I cannot turn and walk away from. I can't. And I don't think I'm ever going to be able to. They just.
Jeff Compton [00:04:23]:
If I feel. In my heart of hearts, I feel like if we just took, like a year. Didn't feed the monkeys, right? Didn't feed the monkeys. Like, the sign of the zoo says they'd all go away because they know that industry is not going to enable me. I can't get the answer I need. F them. I'm not following them. Goal.
Jeff Compton [00:04:46]:
Goal. I hit my goal.
Angry Bob [00:04:47]:
Yeah, absolutely, absolutely, absolutely. You got, you know, sometimes you got like. It's like I missed. What? Somebody was messing with you. You were kid in school, and they would tell you, just ignore them and they go. It's a lot of times that's what happens. You know, they feed off the response. But I'm as guilty of that as anybody else, you know? But there's also.
Angry Bob [00:05:04]:
I have, like, notes behind me I've been trying to, like, you know, this thing is what it is now that's grown a little bit. So you're trying to make it better and marketing yourself better and not being, you know, so adversarial, you know what I mean? Because I am very quick to. That it's just my way and that.
Jeff Compton [00:05:18]:
You know, and I have not done necessarily my platform every favor that I could.
Angry Bob [00:05:23]:
Right. Well, that's.
Jeff Compton [00:05:25]:
And. But at the end of the day, like, I have to be unapologetically me, you know? And it's like, people that have known me before I had this platform, they. They know where it's coming from. They know why. They just laugh out and go, look at him go again. There he goes again. There he goes again. And it is what it is, because it wouldn't be me if I all of a sudden just laid down the weapons and said, oh, you want a bullet? Let me go.
Jeff Compton [00:05:47]:
Look it up here for you in 1998. You know, you want to go to this place and you want to load test it. That's not me. You want to, like, if you're not another tech, you want to get it to a good shop. Here's a list of good shops, and they will take care of it for you. I am not going to hold your hand and walk you through a die your repair on your own car. That, to me, is counterintuitive to our very industry. And it's an.
Jeff Compton [00:06:12]:
It's an unpopular opinion. It really is.
Angry Bob [00:06:14]:
Well, that's. That's why we're here, because of, like, what I remember being the firestone days. It was like that the customer is always right to the point where you would have people that came in and you knew it when they came to the door, they were going to come in, get a bunch of work done, call and complain, cause a big deal, and then get it for free. And they would say, I'm never coming back here. And you knew they were coming back. And, and that, that got catered to again and again and again. And so it built a reputation of, hey, man, they're gonna do whatever I say, and I'm gonna get it for free. So.
Angry Bob [00:06:45]:
So that's the reputation that we have now. And no one's, you know, no business is gonna stand up and say, well, we're not gonna do it. Right? John down the street will do it. And if John won't do it, Joe will do it. And there's always. We were. We never stood together as mechanics and said, no, no, we're not doing it because we'd rather. And it was my biggest problem with the business.
Angry Bob [00:07:05]:
You'd rather bad mouth the guy down the street and tell him no. Come to me. He's a hack. Rather than say no, I heard from John, you're a problem. And don't go to Joe either, because we all know you're a moron. Get out of here. You know, and there's nothing wrong. There's nothing wrong with saying no sometimes.
Jeff Compton [00:07:19]:
Oh, we all need to learn to say no. I I say, you know, if we get ten cars in a day, we should probably only take nine. There's probably one every day that we should say no to, right? Because then it becomes a project thing, or it becomes like, I was just talking with somebody yesterday, and it was like they had one and it kicked their tail, and they. They learned a lesson from it. But it's like the end of the day. Was it smart to take that? No. Pride was. Pride got in the way.
Jeff Compton [00:07:46]:
Pride, you. We've had them at my shop and we would have been smarter to pay the customer to not work on it.
Angry Bob [00:07:54]:
That's what, your chest gets heavy, doesn't it? Ask. It's heavy.
Jeff Compton [00:07:58]:
And it's like, but I think by nature, just like you said, you want to fix them, right? You want to be the guy. You want to, everybody wants to be the go to guy. Everybody wants to be the go to guy. Everybody wants to take pride and go. I beat that, right? That car came in, had the stupidest problem. I found it, I fixed it. But I've had some really long conversations with some of the people. Lucas says it.
Jeff Compton [00:08:22]:
It's not about fixing the car. Like, and it gets like, he's, he'll say, that's not even the most important element of is fixing the car. It's about the customer's experience. It's about how the customer goes away feeling. Yes, you got to give them a fixed cardinal. But sometimes, like, you just have to be their advocate, which means that it's like, if you can't fix it, you have to do that. You have to be upfront and honest and tell them, I can't fix it now, can't and won't or shouldn't can get switched around in there, depending on the customer and the situation. But, I mean, there's lots of cars we should have never touched, is my point.
Jeff Compton [00:09:01]:
And, you know, if I could get more people to understand how to identify which those, which cars those are, you know, we'd be a lot easier. You know, the joke was always like, if we could just get an industry list of people that you don't do business with, don't write the problem customers.
Angry Bob [00:09:18]:
Oh, Sarah, no, no, no. You're blacklisted like, like a casino almost don't come in and you can't gamble here no more. Yeah, I like that. I like that a lot.
Jeff Compton [00:09:26]:
You can't do that. You know what I mean? But I mean, if everybody in the communities would work a little better, a little closer together and stop seeing each other's competition and be like, oh, I know. You know, I know, Craig over at John's, I talked to Craig. Craig, this, you know, I got one of these in here that's doing this and he'll go, is it this color? Yeah. Oh, shit. I know.
Angry Bob [00:09:49]:
Exactly seven shops already. That's right.
Jeff Compton [00:09:53]:
Because I know at the dealership towards the end, when I was there at Chrysler way back when, you could do that, you could look in and see the VIN number and see, or you, like, I could call the guy at the dealer and go, this van was sold at your dealer, and I'm taking things apart, and it's looked like I've been apart before. Have you? What's. What's going on there? Right? Because the customer will never tell you.
Angry Bob [00:10:13]:
Never, never.
Jeff Compton [00:10:14]:
And then it's like, they'll tell. Oh, yeah, that's like, that's a nightmare, that weird one. And then sometimes he'll just drop the little tidbit in your ear that it's like, oh, yeah, it was all good until it was in an accident.
Angry Bob [00:10:25]:
Mm hmm.
Jeff Compton [00:10:26]:
And then you're like, hmm. Well, that just went from being, like, warranty to retail, you know, like. And then. So when I, you know, we need to work together, like, you going back to, like, you said, we shouldn't be badmouthing each other. Now, that's. That's tough for me too, because as long as I've been on the Internet and talking with shop owners and stuff, I used to say I'd have a bragging board, and it would be like a board of literally, like, hacker pairs that came into my shop from somewhere else, and I'd put them up and I'd say, this is what, you know, this is what you don't do. This is what your service provider should not be doing.
Angry Bob [00:11:02]:
Well, it's totally fine. I just. My thing is, I just. I'm not one for doing it by name. That's. I just leave names out of it. Like, even with the situation with my stepson, all with the pay. I'm not burning anybody's business.
Angry Bob [00:11:12]:
Then it doesn't rise to that level. You know what I mean? You don't want to cause anybody, like, you get your opinion out there and how you feel, but I just don't do the name thing because it's like, if it was me. Yeah, everybody has bad days, you know, maybe you did something that you. Something got by you where you just don't know, and it's like you don't. You don't really have your chance to explain on social media, especially if something comes out, like. And it's on you, and they're using your name and you come in there to defend yourself, well, then you're just gonna look like you're doing exactly that. You know what I mean? You're trying to defend your bad deed. So I'm not so much one for calling people up on him.
Angry Bob [00:11:41]:
I kind of feel like karma will do its thing, and eventually that'll all even out in a way, you know? Because. I don't know. It's just just not one of them things I want to have in my conscious, I guess. But. But I'm with you on, you know, showcasing, like, what you don't do and then showing the right way, you know? Absolutely.
Jeff Compton [00:11:56]:
Just because we've all seen it. We've seen the cars that were parts canned, right?
Angry Bob [00:12:00]:
Oh, yeah.
Jeff Compton [00:12:00]:
And then you go in there and fix it with a broken wire. And it's like sometimes, you know, we all do it. We've not. We all do it, but, you know, we've all seen the videos that have been put up of, like, it's got all the new evap parts on it and there's a broken wire to the vent. You know, it's. And, and, yeah, so not necessarily calling the shop out that did it, but you can kind of, like, you know, you can kind of sit there and say, at the end of the day, this is why, like, Paul Danner's, you know, great lesson to so many people is like, you need that $500 retainer. You need that $500 retainer for the customer to understand that you have to go back and check everything that somebody's done. You have to check the parts that you did.
Jeff Compton [00:12:42]:
You have to see what parts are put in there. Oh, it's got, you know, Brand X. Yeah. We've seen them not work. Like, we need to start there and put in the one that we know works and then continue the testing. It may be done after that point. It may not be if you.
Angry Bob [00:12:57]:
How about this? Even if we're wrong, you still have to pay for that time.
Jeff Compton [00:13:02]:
Yeah.
Angry Bob [00:13:02]:
You still got to pay for the time. It's. It's still. Because that's the time doesn't dissipate because I wasn't right.
Jeff Compton [00:13:09]:
Yeah. Yeah. Why, why, Bob, are we expected to, like, you know, contribute to the customers when they have a problem? Cardinal? Why is that? Why is that?
Angry Bob [00:13:21]:
I don't, I don't know who just made the video saying something about that. The other, there maybe something I saw on Facebook, but it was in the changing the industry Facebook group, and a guy said, why? Like, I have this business now. And he goes, I'm doing it all on my own one man show. And he goes, he was, everybody that comes in once every month wants everything for free. Like, they want my time for free. And they really, they honestly, like, for real expect it and think that that's the way that it should be. And again, I think it goes back to those, we'll run out and check your tire pressure for free. We'll run out and check your check engine light for free.
Angry Bob [00:13:53]:
And they saw those commercials, and it resonated, and it just kept snowballing over the years. And this is where we are now. We discounted ourselves out of diagnostic, you know, we gave it away, so now they don't want to pay for it. Well, you know, or at least in.
Jeff Compton [00:14:07]:
Their eyes, I've made the argument we've discounted ourselves. I just said it last week. We've discounted ourselves to the point where we're not even marketable as an occupation to the young people coming into this trade.
Angry Bob [00:14:18]:
How could you. More. How could you. The investment in tools alone. The investment in tools alone. And then it's like you go into a shop, and what people don't realize is the owner provided the building, the lift, and the electricity and the air pressure from the. Everything else comes out of that text box.
Jeff Compton [00:14:35]:
That's right.
Angry Bob [00:14:35]:
We provide everything to a shop most of the time, except for the lift, the lights, and the walls. But it's so hard for a guy, yourself, myself, to get those four walls and the lift and the path, because that's been my blockage for. For 20 years, man. Could never get the building, just can never find a place, could never get in. And, you know, it's, we're getting off topic there, but, you know, it's, it's, it's, it's diff. It is difficult. It's difficult to go out on your own. And the mobile thing, personally, for me, even though I see guys making money and all, I did it for a little while, and I found that it was usually got, the losers who wouldn't go to a shop had no money, and they were just on Facebook marketplace trying to catch a deal.
Angry Bob [00:15:18]:
And that's not what I'm trying to be out there providing. I want to provide a service and a good one, and that's not what people want to pay for.
Jeff Compton [00:15:24]:
We have that conversation a lot behind the scenes around here. And there's, you know, I see it on TikTok. You can follow, if you want to follow a hundred mobile guys, you can find them on TikTok, right? Same as on YouTube, same as on any platform. And I look at it, and it's like, I want to really, like, empower those people to go, you know what I'm not saying don't be mobile, but I'm saying, like, you want to be mobile to do this, right? And you want to specialize in that, and you want to be able to go out there and do the diag on the car. And go, you know what? You need a module. And I. And I can't program it, but I. Here's the tech checks that I did.
Jeff Compton [00:15:58]:
You need a module. Here's the shop that I work with. Call this gentleman, book it in, get it done. $150. Cool. On the next one, when I see some of the guys that are, like, struggling, and they're, they're out there pumping the content out, fixing a lot of cars, but you look at it and you go, he just charged $60 for that. So he's counting on his downloads and his revenue from his platform to offset what really should be. That job should be paying, right? And.
Jeff Compton [00:16:30]:
And I want to reach through the screen sometimes and grab those people and shake them. And God, man, you're. You're undervaluing yourself. And the old me would have said, you're undervaluing the whole damn industry right now. It's like, I know that I'm having an impact on people. I know that we're seeing the change happen in the industry. We are seeing it, and it's not. Right now.
Jeff Compton [00:16:53]:
It's not all good for everybody to change. If you're a shop owner trying to hire a tech, it sucks. It really does. But I'm trying, through the networking and the social media and all that kind of stuff, I'm trying to get people like yourself their story out there, trying to get people that are out there thinking that they can't do the mobile thing and make it work. Trust like you can. Anything you want to do in life, you can do it. If you've got the hustle and you're smart about it and you have the skills, you can make money doing this, and you can make a good living. But I want people to understand it's not about the clicks at the end of the day, the downloads and all the free stuff that some sponsors may send you isn't why you should do this.
Jeff Compton [00:17:39]:
You should do that because you want to help the industry. It shouldn't need it for the money, right? If all of that became demonetized tomorrow, I would. I'll still be here. Like, as a Canadian on TikTok, they don't send me money. Like, that's the other thing that people don't know, like tick tock does. It's not monetized in Canada. I'm not getting money from tick tock for doing this.
Angry Bob [00:18:01]:
Oh, really?
Jeff Compton [00:18:02]:
No, I'm so. The little shorts and shit, it doesn't pay. It wouldn't matter if the podcast didn't pay. Tomorrow, you're still gonna hear me rant every week about something and tell somebody story every week until I friggin think I'm done. Till I don't need to tell it anymore, you know?
Angry Bob [00:18:20]:
Happy.
Jeff Compton [00:18:21]:
Well, yeah, because you and I were just talking. Like, this is not about just. I said, you can't stuff the money in your pockets and take it with you, right? You know?
Angry Bob [00:18:32]:
You know, can't take. You can't take it with you. And you never see a u haul behind hearse, right?
Jeff Compton [00:18:36]:
That's right. What did you, like, did you at first think, like, this job changed? Like, leaving that shop was going to be. You didn't think it was going to be the end for you?
Angry Bob [00:18:48]:
Um, not, not. I don't. I honestly don't know, man. Because, you know, you kind of live in, like, a small. I live in a small, you know, small bubble. It's like, you know what, as far as my marketable skills went at that time, you know, not at this time, but, but, but I guess back when I. With my leg, when I had the surgery just recently, you know what I mean? My thought was, no, what. What other skill do I have that, you know, that other than working on cars, you know what I mean? That's going to bring in, you know, money.
Angry Bob [00:19:18]:
That's respectable, you know, and. And even now at that, you know, I'm not really sure where it's going to go, you know? But luckily, I had this thing going, which, again, this just start, that, that tick tock thing just started generating the smallest amount of money. So it's not like, you know, I. Luckily, I have my wife, you know, she works, and, you know, we're going to get by. But now the future is still uncertain in that way. Jeff, to be honest with you, while I had this opportunity, like I told you about, that may come to be with this. With this company, that's not. There's.
Angry Bob [00:19:50]:
They're not paying me, you know what I mean? Like, that's not a paycheck that I'm receiving right now. And that's not to be on here complaining or anything. That's just to say that, you know, right now, things. Things are a little uncertain for me future wise, you know, but I am happy that the TikTok thing has shown me, you know, just from other people, that there is an opportunity to do. To do different things now. And you can, you know, reinvent yourself in ways that you really never thought you could before. Because to think I'd be sitting here with you with a headset on and Mike doing a podcast about a year ago would have been something that, you know, even at work, them guys are like, yo, you know, you're not going to make any money doing that, right? You're never going to be like a check engine Chuck or anything like that. And I was like, I know, I know.
Angry Bob [00:20:25]:
And I knew that at the time, I knew I'd never, you know, and then before you know it, 20, you know, 20,000 followers. And no, I'm not checking to Chuck, but at least I talk to check engine Chuck now, right?
Jeff Compton [00:20:36]:
Filmed his first video he ever thought he'd be, you know, scanner Danner charities.
Angry Bob [00:20:41]:
And right things he's doing.
Jeff Compton [00:20:44]:
I've talked to the man. He never in his wildest dreams thought that it would wind up where it has, right?
Angry Bob [00:20:51]:
Humble.
Jeff Compton [00:20:54]:
Dude. I'll tell you what humbles you is when you start to walk around an event and everybody stops you. Not everybody, but people stop you and say, oh, my God, I love the podcast you did here. Like, I listened to, you know, last year at Asda, we had, somebody said we had a seven hour drive from where they were coming from to Asta last year. And he's like, with a seven hour drive, we listen to so many episodes of your podcast. That's all they listen to. And I'm thinking, I've never listened to myself for 7 hours.
Angry Bob [00:21:25]:
You know what the hardest thing about is making the videos. Watching me over and over. Because you got to go through and keep watching and edit and make sure everything hits right. Dude, I think I'm the biggest fool. Don't ever get it twisted. You know what I mean? Like, don't think I'm sitting over here like I'm the man. Look, we got great. I think every video almost.
Angry Bob [00:21:41]:
I can't believe people watch, but they do, and I'm thankful that they do. You know, I'm ugly.
Jeff Compton [00:21:47]:
I'm gonna say you're. I'm not all that smart. But I mean, the. What this has done for me has, like, I say it all the time. This has kept me in the industry. It really has. Because it's like, I can have. I can have a day and nothing makes sense.
Jeff Compton [00:22:09]:
Nothing goes right, and then I can reach out to my people and talk to my friends and family and I remember that it's like they had a day like that, too, you know, you're not.
Angry Bob [00:22:19]:
You're not alone. And that's what it made you realize, you're not alone. And, and, yeah, and there was a time, like when I had that surgery and I was recovering here. And I did. I, you know, you felt alone. You're like, man, this is like, I'm going to have to leave this business. And it's like, I know I can we complain about it, but we also love it. It's a part of our life.
Angry Bob [00:22:34]:
And you. And it, and you're like, damn. Like, what am I going to do now? And then interacting with these people on TikTok and the Internet and stuff like that, it's like, saved me in a way. You know what I mean? Like, it showed me that, like, there's. It's not over. It's. It's, you know, there's bigger things now because you just don't know.
Jeff Compton [00:22:50]:
We all just turned a page. You know, when I. When I did my first recording, I didn't know it at the time, what it was about, and I. If anybody knew what it was going to lead to, it would have been Lucas, because he's the guy. Lucas is, like, next level in terms of just being able to understand how people will connect with other people. I never thought that sitting down when I was out of work during COVID angry at the world. And I wasn't just angry. I had been angry for years.
Jeff Compton [00:23:24]:
That's how.
Angry Bob [00:23:24]:
The same way.
Jeff Compton [00:23:25]:
And it was like, all I did, all I did in the Facebook groups was. Was rant and complain and, and bitch and call people out. That's all I did. I was hurt.
Angry Bob [00:23:36]:
You were hurt? You were hurt, my man.
Jeff Compton [00:23:39]:
I was ground down.
Angry Bob [00:23:40]:
Yeah, because you put so much of you into it.
Jeff Compton [00:23:42]:
Yeah.
Angry Bob [00:23:43]:
And then you're like, man, like, this is what I get back.
Jeff Compton [00:23:45]:
Yeah.
Angry Bob [00:23:46]:
And not that you're owed anything, but, like, come on, man, we give everything into this. Everything, man, I don't know anybody who does a job who has put so much time and their own energy, like. Like, I'm not talking about when you're at work. I'm talking about at home. Like, when you're not getting paid, you know, to learn and to better yourself. People go to work, they do their job, they come home, and that's it. Not mechanics do. We work so hard, technicians work so hard to continue to stay abreast of technology that's constantly changing, to be, you know, it's never the same.
Angry Bob [00:24:19]:
It's never this.
Jeff Compton [00:24:19]:
No.
Angry Bob [00:24:20]:
Every year it changes.
Jeff Compton [00:24:21]:
You're never even ahead of it. You're never even on par with it. You're just like, how far behind are you? Is?
Angry Bob [00:24:28]:
And you have to work against the barriers they put in place to keep you from knowing what just came out. It's insanity.
Jeff Compton [00:24:35]:
Yeah, it really is. The misinformation, the shit that's published wrong. Like, we've all seen that in service information. No, it doesn't actually work that way. You know what I mean? Like, I know it's. The engineer wrote it up and said it did, but that's the other frustrating part. The engineer that designed the system is not the one that wrote the service manual. The guy that puts the wiring harness in the car is not the one that writes the service manual.
Jeff Compton [00:24:55]:
You know what I mean? Like, it is all supposed to be laid out, but guys, when they build a building, they don't follow the blueprint 100%, because the guy that drafts the building plan assumes that the ground is perfectly level, and then they have somebody else come in and they lay that, you know, the foundation. The foundation ends up being one degree off. Everybody's accounting for that. You put that into a car. Well, crap. Think about the variable and the time that that comes to. Right. And so we're just expected to roll with that? Well, no, because when we roll with it, it means that we have to trust that it's built the way it says it's built.
Jeff Compton [00:25:30]:
And when we get into a situation where it's not built the way it says we built were the dummies because we didn't. Like that drives me sideways, you know?
Angry Bob [00:25:41]:
Fix it fast and fix it right. But you ripped me off when you did, so.
Jeff Compton [00:25:45]:
Yeah.
Angry Bob [00:25:46]:
Don't be able to fix it and screw it up. And you are dummy. There's no, like, there's. So where do I. Where I'm. Where am I, the man? Like, where do you become? You know, where are you? Like, where am I? Where's the win for the guy in that? It's like, if you fix it, you screwed him. And if you don't fix it, you screwed him.
Jeff Compton [00:26:03]:
Yeah. Yeah. I. I guess the man thing is, where. Where are you the man? Where you the hero? Well, when you fix what nobody else could, that's what got it to me, was, like, it had been back to the dealership three times. It had a check engine light on or had an ABS code or had an airbag code or had some funky thing back three times. I fixed it. That's when I was the man.
Jeff Compton [00:26:24]:
It was stupid financially to be that man. It made zero sense.
Angry Bob [00:26:28]:
But, you know, pride and being able to fix it.
Jeff Compton [00:26:31]:
That's right.
Angry Bob [00:26:32]:
You can do things that. Like, even in the shop, I was just. And I would go over. I never said nothing to the boss or, like, that. But you would go over to, like, the young guy working next to me, and you'd see him struggling with something, you would just kind of like, yo, man, that. And walk off, you know what I mean? You just give it to him and you just, and you just kind of see it happen and, and him figure it out. And you'd be like, that felt good, you know, like, that felt good to be like I was that kid struggling with that, whatever the code may be. And it's like, through my hardship, I found over the years, you know, whatever, this, this way to do it, this scenario, and it works.
Angry Bob [00:27:03]:
And it's like, I'm not going to hold or get, like you said, gatekeep, I'm not going to hold that in. I'm just going to give it away because I hated that struggle. I hated that when you sometimes were in a shop where there was that experience and knowledge there to help you and it was not offered, and I just could never understand it. And a lot of guys would get grizzled and say, well, you know what? If I had to earn it so hard, then so does the next guy, but it's not. I always promise myself I wouldn't do it that way.
Jeff Compton [00:27:29]:
Let me throw this wrinkle at you. What about when you've got somebody like that and you see them struggling, you go over to them and you give them the fish and they go and they want to argue with you?
Angry Bob [00:27:41]:
Yeah, I've been through that, too. And you just kind of got to, like, so, like, people will say about me, like, if they have to come over to me and I'm in the middle of something that I, you know, like, the way I come off, like, I just kind of snap. But I'll apologize for that. You know what I mean? You'll get to know that about me, where it's like, that's just kind of his way. But when you go to a guy and he wants to argue about you, when you're trying to help, you get to a point where you're just like, you know what, man? It's not worth it to screw my day up to come over here now and try and. And it goes further than that initial snap to where, okay, that guy's just a little bit of a hot head. He'll, he'll cool down and take my advice, where you're just like, dude, you just want to argue for the sake of arguing, then go. Then I'm not going to fight with you for you to do it another way.
Angry Bob [00:28:20]:
If you want to keep going the way you're going. But where I hit the wall was he wants to keep going away, he's going. And we're going to let that happen for 6 hours and not say a word to him because he's busy, right. He's working, but he ain't getting shit done. So then now you're going to send that car over to me when he's done and he's going to act like he never touched it. He's going to completely ignore me. And now I have to start from ground zero, figure the car out, and then when I do, you're going to give me another one. Well, why don't I just sandbag for 6 hours?
Jeff Compton [00:28:46]:
Well, so. And that's. I'm not defending the grizzled old guys that become that way, that get labeled a gatekeeper, but I mean, I know for myself there's been people in my experience that I bothered to try pouring into, and then there was others that it's like, okay, you sass back a couple times or you. And I'm just not going to waste my time. I'm not going to waste it. I can't. You're not at that maturity level yet where I can help you, right? Anything now is just a waste of our time. I was the same as you.
Jeff Compton [00:29:19]:
I got frustrated with the system because the system's like they're giving that job to him to try and get him to learn. And I'm looking at it going, we're backing up here and he's screwing it up. Making more work for one of the three of us that's going to get that job. Don't give him the stinking job because he's gonna. He's gonna mess his day up and then you're gonna go and give him an easy job and he's still gonna get the same hours that I get when I have to go in behind him and fix it. And I'll do it in 2 hours and you pay me two. He'll have six in it. You're probably gonna pay him six for trying.
Jeff Compton [00:29:52]:
And then he's still gonna make four more at the end of the day because he's gonna bang off a front and rear brake job in 90 minutes. That's not right. That's rub on the production thing. I can't.
Angry Bob [00:30:05]:
They're going to throw it at that tech who can't do it because they couldn't wait. And for you to get done, the car you were on, it's got to get done now. Now, all you did was back yourself up. You didn't help yourself. Yeah. That guy's not sitting there. So the owner sees that he's getting a value for his dollar per hour right at that moment, but you're not, because if you just want to hold on 20 minutes, let me finish. The car was doing a.
Angry Bob [00:30:25]:
I do electrical. That's what I do. Let him do the thing that he does well and let that guy do the thing that he does well and stop trying to push 30 cars into a 20 car day.
Jeff Compton [00:30:34]:
Exactly.
Angry Bob [00:30:35]:
It's a bottom line. Like, it's not always, it's not always about them. You know, you got, you're dealing with people, and people get tired. And as they get tired, the amount, the quality of their work is going to diminish, especially in an environment where you're working in heat, cold, upside down, sideways on the ground. You know what I mean? It's like. And you expect that same level of diagnostic or repair work from a guy at 07:00 a.m. and then 08:00 at night, and you're. And it's not, you're not getting that.
Angry Bob [00:31:02]:
Men need to rest. They need to sleep. Your minds just too much expected from these guys now with the computers and the diagnostic, and it's too much, man. We just keep piling on it. We piling on and you're breaking guys. They don't want to do it. They leave.
Jeff Compton [00:31:13]:
We're piling on to the young people. I saw there was a conversation this weekend, I don't know if you saw it or not, if you're in that group or if not, we'll get you into that group. And he asked, he says, um, I've got a young person that does oil changes for me. They do an oil change and a 35 point inspection. How much time are you allotting for that person to do and what's reasonable and all that kind of stuff? My immediate answer is, what's your 35 point consist of? What are you actually doing? Are you pulling cabin filters and pulling air filters that the customer is probably not even interested in buying anything? If they are, stop doing that because that's just wasting time. And I said to him, I said, if you look at the posted labor times on a lot of these cars that just do the oil change and then no inspection, just the oil change, and you think they should do it done in 35 minutes, I'll use sadly mistaken. Most of the posted labor times are more than 30 minutes. So if you're bringing them in and I'm not saying they shouldn't get to where they're fast, but it's like.
Jeff Compton [00:32:09]:
So the conversation keeps going. So it's like, okay. So he says, I really want to get rid of them because it's really hard to get somebody in this day and age right now. But I'm paying him $15 an hour any. And he's taken so long to get oil changes done and sometimes even forgets to put the sticker in. My man. Sir. Back again, because I can be that guy.
Jeff Compton [00:32:32]:
I'll poke you back. Is, okay, who's in your shop that's doing quality control? No answer. Okay, here's how we do it. At my shop before that oil change gets done, somebody else walks over and checks it over to make sure that it's got a sticker, that the oil life monitor has been reset. You know, that the inspector inspections filled out all that stuff. Somebody does that. And I said, secondly, why do you think this industry is having the problems that it's having when somebody can go to work at chick fil a and make $15 an hour, or you want to come in and drain oil and do inspections and try to sell work on cars for the same money? I would rather sit there and say, do you want fries with that or not? For dollar 15 an hour, then I would ever be trying to figure out, when I'm looking at that car with somebody breathing down my neck, is it the coolant hose that's leaking, or is it the water pump? I really don't know, but I got one.
Angry Bob [00:33:22]:
You shouldn't want some kid in that car that you're paying $9 an hour. You're gonna get $9 an hour worth of work from him. And let me tell you, it's gonna cost you some engines.
Jeff Compton [00:33:31]:
Yeah, but see, we show them the broken business model. We show it to them, and then you give them a thousand examples going back a hundred a century. We've had automobiles for a century now and how it didn't work. And why do they hold out on the idea that it must be something different? I said to the guy, flat out, he said, you're giving away too much labor on every oil change. If you're giving all those checks away, you're doing too much labor for free. Stop doing that. If they just want a stinking oil change, give them a stinking oil change. Otherwise, you sell an oil change with a big inspection, you staff it appropriately, you charge it appropriately, and then you get a enough nut off of that job that that person can mentor a young person say, this is the process.
Jeff Compton [00:34:19]:
This is how we want it done. This is how it's expected to be done here. This is how it will be done. And then, and only give them time.
Angry Bob [00:34:27]:
Give them time to adjust that. Because if, especially if you're working with kids, man, because they're not grown men. And that's another, they put my, that on my steps aren't the one shot they want. They want this responsibility from you. And it was me, too. And any young guy in the business at like 17, 1819 years old, you are still a child. You are just learning your way, man. So you're not going to make those 07:00 a.m.
Angry Bob [00:34:48]:
sometimes on Saturday, and you're not, you know, you're not always going to be as reliable as Jim, who's 50 years old, has two kids in college and a wife. And I'm, because you don't have that shit on your plate. You're not, you know what I mean? You don't have that weight, nor should you, nor should that 17 year old have that weight and be expected to carry that weight. You need time to grow into that. You need time to become a the tech or the employee or the person that you're going to be. And that's the thing. It's like 18 years old. You're an adult.
Angry Bob [00:35:14]:
You are the furzest thing from an adult when you are 18 and sitting here at 40. I'm just now touching adult, Jeff. We're just getting to adult, buddy. Maybe.
Jeff Compton [00:35:22]:
I know. And I mean, I was brought up in a different time, and I was brought up with, with some parents that it was like, I mean, I had a paper out from the time I was eight years old. So it was like I knew a schedule, I knew a routine. There was a responsibility. I had to deliver papers. It didn't matter if I was home sick from school that day, the paper still had to get delivered.
Angry Bob [00:35:41]:
Right?
Jeff Compton [00:35:42]:
You know, my, I might have had to wait till my father got home or my mom got home to drive me around, but they got delivered.
Angry Bob [00:35:48]:
You know, you were still going to make those youthful mistakes somewhere along the line in a bit, you know, in your job or whatever it may be, you know what I mean?
Jeff Compton [00:35:54]:
But I mean, it's like when everybody says, these young people, you know, I just hired a tech, you know, 26 years old, they managed to work four days last week. Okay, I'm sorry, I. But, you know, like, we have a generation now that it was like, if they didn't even go to school five.
Angry Bob [00:36:12]:
Days they did it. They did it from their bedroom.
Jeff Compton [00:36:15]:
They've still exactly. They still pass them through, right? Like now. And I look at these Covid kids that it's like I can, I can meet these young people now. And I know that they had two years of where they were homeschooled on Covid. They're not the same and they're not ready. And they may never be ready.
Angry Bob [00:36:32]:
Well, you know, it. The education, I think a lot of it is a waste in high school. Like, when I get to the high school level, I think it's just a lot of waste and stuff. I think that there should be like, I've been incarcerated, unfortunately. You know how many men you, you will spend time with, grown men like our age, that you watching tv somewhere when they go, hey, Bob, what's a FiCO score? Okay, like, that's a problem. We're not educating the world about. What did you learn about money? I learned about it after, like, my second credit card chart. You know what I mean? Like, when you start making mistakes, you got to fix all these mistakes that you make that were great, that you teach me geometry.
Angry Bob [00:37:07]:
I've never used it in my life or trigger or whatever, you know what I mean? Some of those classes that you take, that you never use that worth. They would sat you down to put you through some finance, man. It would have done you a whole lot better in the world. Some business classes on how to, you know, to invest and where to put this and that. And the third things that would. I know that would value my life in a whole lot better way than the things that I was taught, really. I mean, I don't know how it goes in Canada, man, but, but here we are falling. We are not, we're not doing any good.
Angry Bob [00:37:33]:
Like, so the thing I, that I was always taught was everybody around you does well, you do well, like it's a community type of thing. Well, in America, we don't feel that way anymore, apparently, because we're all just miserable. Everybody's miserable.
Jeff Compton [00:37:46]:
Yeah. And, you know, I don't want to get into a political thing, but up here, what's very much going on is it's, the country is very divided. I think the whole world is very divided right now. I just think that's what it's going on. And I think there's a big shift right now happening where I think they're really trying to eradicate the middle class. I think we're going to have, like, wealthy and poor. There's going to be nothing in between now you can make the argument that it's like some people that have nothing are still feel very wealthy because they're not burdened with certain things. And I get that analogy.
Jeff Compton [00:38:16]:
I totally understand it. But right now we're starting to see where it's like, you know, 40 years ago we used to talk about some people had to have two jobs. I work two jobs now. I know multiple people that are work three jobs just to be able to pay the bills they're paying off. They're still paying off their student loan. They're, they're making a car payment. They're, you know, they're trying to pay their, their mortgage on it. It's just, it goes and goes and goes and goes and goes and goes.
Jeff Compton [00:38:44]:
And there's a lot of factors that are coming into fact that, you know, groceries are up a hundred percent in the last four years in my country. Like it. What you used to be able to buy for $50, you can't even buy.
Angry Bob [00:38:57]:
It makes you mad. You get stressed going to the supermarket. You get stressed out. You get like pissed off before you even get in the door because you know, you know what's happening when you go in there. You can fuck. You know what I mean? Like, it's bottom line, but it's, it's.
Jeff Compton [00:39:07]:
A situation of like, when I look at, you're exactly right. When you talk about financing, kids don't need to learn the top four exports out of, you know, Guatemala in 11th grade geography. They don't need to learn that. It does not matter. And it can, you know what? It can change tomorrow. And if they really want to friggin know what it is, they can google it and it'll get them like, we need to be teaching trades. We need to be teaching our people how to be employed. You know, it's like, we need to teach them skills.
Jeff Compton [00:39:35]:
We need to teach them how to be good employees. And everybody's like, what does that mean? Well, you've got to teach them that. It's a responsibility, right? And it's. Unfortunately, the job market is going to saturate soon with a whole bunch of candidates that come from different places that like, they are putting, they're going all in when we're not, I guess is what I'm trying to say as a country up here. They're not going all in the way we like, we are not going in the way all in. They will work 14, 16 hours a day. They'll work two jobs because this is their dream. Right? And some of us have lost that what is the dream here? And I can understand why I'm not faulting them, because what our parents had is not what we have.
Jeff Compton [00:40:19]:
We're expected to work a whole lot more for a whole lot less. So I understand when the young people come in and they're 25, 26, and they only managed to work four days. They went through school or college, and maybe they only went four days.
Angry Bob [00:40:33]:
And what's wrong with a four day week? What? We change. What's wrong with a four day week? Maybe they have the right idea. I like everything that is. Doesn't always mean that it should be. Yeah, I change a good thing.
Jeff Compton [00:40:45]:
Yeah. I only work four days now. Now they're four long days. But I mean, now it's like I used to say when I left the dealer, I'll never go back to some place that will make me work a Saturday again. I flat out friggin refuse.
Angry Bob [00:40:57]:
I find the work Saturdays in a long time. And I agree with you, there's no reason for it.
Jeff Compton [00:41:01]:
I'll find a different line of work before I'll ever work Saturday again. And now I get spoiled. And it's like every weekend is a long weekend. If I had to find another job tomorrow, it'd be definitely something I can, would consider if it meant less money. But just keep the three day weekend. You get used to it. So.
Angry Bob [00:41:21]:
And. And it's like I'm damaged to the point where, like, damage. But, like, just from working this way, like, if I get more than two days off in a row, I feel like I'm doing something wrong.
Jeff Compton [00:41:31]:
Yeah.
Angry Bob [00:41:31]:
You know what I mean? You're like, why haven't I been to work? Because it's like, if you don't go to work for two days, your money's messed up. You know what I mean? Like what? And that's just. I'm telling you, man, it's, it's, it's rough. Like, you get to the point where you can't sit down because you don't know how to, you know, it's just because you. Any job I've ever had, dude, sitting wasn't something that they encouraged. Yeah, it really wasn't. I mean, that's not in this business. You better be good standing.
Jeff Compton [00:41:54]:
And, I mean, I'm lucky. I spend, you know, a lot of time, and I have spent a lot of time, the last five years of my life in the job with a scanner on my lap behind the wheel of a cardinal. You know, I've done that, or I've spent enough time kneeled over a desk looking at a wiring diagram. But there's some days, like we talk about a tire season still kicks my butt. I am so racked and sore at the end of every day for three months in the fall and three months in the spring that it's like I always look at myself and, why are you doing this? Well, that's part of it, right? When you say, so, you touched on Uti.
Angry Bob [00:42:30]:
You were.
Jeff Compton [00:42:32]:
Oh, yeah, sorry. Yeah. You regret going?
Angry Bob [00:42:36]:
No, I don't regret. See, I didn't have in place what my stepson has in place. I mean, with me being here, and it was different time, and my nobody in my world, like the young guys that I was with at the time, we were in the cars, but we didn't have no. Any old heads like thAt, you kNow, that were really there to help out. The old heads back then would, like, just keep walkIng. And they were on the way home from work, like, nah, man, we don't help you out. So Lincoln tech was actually a blast for me. That was the one year of school that I loved because I was going to school for something I wanted to learn with all people who were there just to learn that, you know what I mean? And they weren't interested in that.
Angry Bob [00:43:12]:
So you would click up with a few guys, and one guy I still talk to this day, his name's don, and he's working for Tesla now, you know what I mean? So there were a few guys who stayed with it and stayed in the business, but most of that intro class you were with, that where you started out, and then you. There wasn't many of them left at the end, but the guys who were in it to win it, you know what I mean? Or to stay in it, I guess you'd say. I still talk to a few of them, and it. It's expensive, but I can say now that maybe it wouldn't be so worth it because of the information that's available now. But I would never say I regret going because it was one of the most valuable experiences I've ever had. And I think had I not done it, that I wouldn't have got into the business. So, like, committed as, you know, it would have been like something I did, but I would have done other things. Like, a lot of guys I know I got in and stayed in, and I've never left.
Angry Bob [00:44:03]:
You know what I mean? So, so a lot. Not a lot of guys are like that. There's been a lot of guys who've left and come back, or they leave and they don't come back. You know, me and that guy Don, are the only two that I can think of right now from that class that are still doing it.
Jeff Compton [00:44:14]:
Yeah.
Angry Bob [00:44:14]:
But he's another guy that loves it like crazy, man. And he. What he did was pretty incredible because he went from doing what we do to something that's a clean know you, that's a closed door you're opening. You've never seen it before. And he said they told him his first day. Forgot everything you learned over the past 20 years, and you can leave your tools at home. And that was what they told him. And he said it was rough in the beginning, but, you know, he's.
Angry Bob [00:44:34]:
He's a master over there now, so he's doing pretty well.
Jeff Compton [00:44:37]:
Good for him.
Angry Bob [00:44:37]:
Yeah, I love that. I love that stuff. I love seeing guys do well.
Jeff Compton [00:44:42]:
Yeah.
Angry Bob [00:44:42]:
I don't hate on anybody. I don't even care if I'm not doing well. If you're a guy out there like Chuck or anybody shining or whatever, I think it's the greatest thing in the world right now, that these regular people doing regular jobs can be, like, stars. You know what I mean? Like, really, it's. It's. It's such a different thing now that it used to be, because I'd rather watch them than some dude. It's got millions.
Jeff Compton [00:45:03]:
Yeah, I I don't. I don't how many of us probably don't watch when Elon Musk does a press conference to expose a new motor expose to. For, you know, profile a new model? Nobody probably tunes into that. But, like, there's probably a lot of videos. If somebody was to take a tesla apart, there's a lot of people. They're gonna watch that, and we're not. And Elon's not gonna be the one taking it apart, not hating on the guy. He's the one that comes up with a lot of those things that are still happening.
Jeff Compton [00:45:28]:
Like, the guy's a genius, bonafide. But, you know, I'm not watching HIM. I want to know how it, like, I want to know.
Angry Bob [00:45:36]:
Right? And now, whatever. I think you root for somebody who's, you know, working to get there, so you're not specifically going to root for the guy who's already there, and he made it. He made it. We're not rooting for him anymore. I'm going to root for the guy who's digging up and trying to get there, you know? And because I think that's what it's all about, you know, we're all trying to get to that level in whatever we do, you know, you're not going to be Elon Musk, but if you're mechanic or whatever, you need to be, Paul, thinner, wherever you want to, you know, you all have that level that you want to get to. Nobody starts something is like, I just want to be mediocre. I never knew a guy who was like, yo, I don't want to be good at fixing cars. I want to be a shitty mechanic.
Angry Bob [00:46:08]:
And I really want to have a lot of comebacks, and I don't want to make any money. Like, everybody comes into. It wants to be good. It's just, you know, I guess maybe it's all about who you have around you, what you learn and your experiences and how it ends up there, you know, because even good or bad, my experiences put me to where I am right now, you know? Yeah.
Jeff Compton [00:46:26]:
The culture. Culture of the shop is the, is the key thing. I've seen that now, and it resonated in the last five years. You see some absolutely phenomenal shop owners, and you look at the culture that's going on within their business and you realize that, like, there's no ceiling to that place. There's none. Because at the ground level, they've got, everybody's got their, each other's backs, and that's, that's what it's all about. They're not pitted as a competition against each other. Right.
Jeff Compton [00:46:50]:
It's collectively we kill it, and collectively, we're superstars. We got one guy out there trying to be the hero or trying to be number one or racing the, you know, oh, they post our hours from, you know, the county, the top 25.
Angry Bob [00:47:07]:
Flag in tex of the week, and you know what that did, right? He was just fighting to get to the top of that sheet, and that's all it was, you know, and there was a guy I worked with for years who we fought cat and dog in the shop, like, I mean, like, in each other's faces over flat rate hours, and we just. But it made, but it was a double edged. It made me a better tech sparring with him, you know, like, I. Faster, I got better. But it was a, it was a negative experience. You know, you don't. You don't. You don't want to do that.
Angry Bob [00:47:33]:
But it's. That's what, that. We weren't that way outside of work. We were friends outside of work. We used to go drinking a bar and stuff, but at work, we were killers. That's what you had to be in there because you needed to go in there and make 60, 70 hours that week because you had a mortgage and a car payment because you were living at 60, 70 hours a week, as we all do, right? Because you hit that 60 70. So you gonna keep living there. But sometimes coming into Thursday and you had 20 hours, he was not your friend anymore.
Angry Bob [00:47:55]:
You needed to make 40 hours in the next three days.
Jeff Compton [00:47:57]:
Yeah, and I was that way. Like, if that guy was, you know, his hour sheet, because the same thing, it passed around. You don't look be in your front door, your toolbox, every morning you pull it out there and there's that same number, top of the sheet again from yesterday. You already knew. Like, you just threw him in the pile near the weekend. You knew he smoked you. Yeah, because Wednesday he was three times farther ahead than you were. You knew that you couldn't catch him.
Jeff Compton [00:48:18]:
So, yeah, when they hand you one of his comebacks, you think I'm doing that comeback? Hell, no.
Angry Bob [00:48:25]:
And then the customer sees you in the shop freaking the fuck out, right? But they see that little window there where this dude's in this shop, and it's a bad experience. Oh, it's because he's been getting hosed on hours all week. You weren't there for that. He's upset, you know, and that happens too. You know, it's, it's that squeaky wheel gets the grease, but in a bad way a lot of times, you know, because they're going to get rid of the guy who's, who's, who's, you know, saying things and call, you know, questioning things. But I've even tested that theory. Where were you being in a job? And they're like, yeah, you can't be like that. You're like, okay.
Angry Bob [00:48:56]:
So you come in and try to say something constructively, and you get the same result. So you're just like, man, it's just not worth the headache. Move on. There's other places.
Jeff Compton [00:49:04]:
I give them some notice. When I sit down, do an interview, I get, I give them lots of notice. I tell them exactly what I'm like. Yeah, if you still take me on, you take me as I am, right? That, whatever.
Angry Bob [00:49:13]:
That song was so soft now, man, like, I'm not running over and punching in the face or words, man. You know, like, it's just. But that's the way the world is now.
Jeff Compton [00:49:23]:
If I see him drowned in the. And it's like, I know that the next minute, if he could, he'd step on my neck, right? And I see him drowning, I ain't throwing him no life saver. There's no, it ain't happening.
Angry Bob [00:49:33]:
Like, I'm flawed that way, man. I, like, I'm a part, like, I give that lant, like, you know, where they're dying and, you know, they'd leave you in the water to drown, but you still throw, I just, and it's, it's, it's one of my biggest mistakes, Jeff. Let me tell you, it'll fuck you every time, every time I don't become so.
Jeff Compton [00:49:50]:
I learned it, I learned it young, and it sucks, and I'm not proud of it.
Angry Bob [00:49:54]:
It's, it's, and then there's nothing wrong with it. You have to, you have to be cold, man, because, I don't know, it's, my mom did that to me, man. It's her fault. She made me do that.
Jeff Compton [00:50:05]:
You know? Like, I had to sacrifice so much to learn that little tidbit, right?
Angry Bob [00:50:10]:
You have to, man. You, like, you can't have a heart in this world. To a certain extent.
Jeff Compton [00:50:14]:
If he's over there drowning, I'm, it's, it's not in me to walk over and pick him up because I know tomorrow he'd stand on my neck to get, he needed to go, and it's fine, but, like, you know, even should I go over and help him? Yeah, I should. But by God, I'm gonna get a laugh out of it and I'm gonna get some entertainment before maybe I do, you know what I mean? And it just, the environment I'm in now, it's not to anybody's benefit to let him struggle. It's not, and even, like, you could make the argument, well, when you're all on commission, you know, and you're on commission, it's not, yes, it is, because I have to get mine before he gets his. Because there's only so much to get. And that's, the shops don't want to admit, but that's, that's the reality, you know, you got everybody eating from the.
Angry Bob [00:51:04]:
Same pie, man, and it's, there's not going to be enough to go around and somebody's always going to end up without a chair when the music stops.
Jeff Compton [00:51:10]:
Yeah.
Angry Bob [00:51:10]:
And then you expect that guy to just kind of be happy about it and that, you know. You know, like, I see some of these places, like, it even seems like that royalty auto or whatever it is. The guy with the white hair with the ponytail. I seem happy there.
Jeff Compton [00:51:22]:
Oh, yeah.
Angry Bob [00:51:23]:
You know what I mean? And he's a four day weekend. Thursday they go up to a classroom for training and all. And, you know, don't get me wrong, I think the guy will fool himself.
Jeff Compton [00:51:31]:
But.
Angry Bob [00:51:31]:
But that's okay. You know, he has to write the piece. Got a very successful business and a very successful, you know, online presence, and good for him. But you can tell he. That those guys, he's working for him, they're not going home counting pennies, man. They're probably taken care of, you know, and. And they're being offered something. Like I told my stepson and I, hopefully anybody's watching this will hear this most more than anything else.
Angry Bob [00:51:52]:
Go work for somebody who's going to offer you training and education because it costs so much money. And I'm telling you, take that education. That's. That's worth more than anything else because you could take that education, you have that forever. You think they can't take that back, you own it for the rest of your life.
Jeff Compton [00:52:09]:
Dude, I've worked in some places where I hated to work there, but I got some lessons I took. I learned some things that I take with me. Right. And you can. It's just like I said, you can't take it back.
Angry Bob [00:52:20]:
You know, no matter what happens to you in life, you always have your skill and the knowledge that you possess.
Jeff Compton [00:52:24]:
The scars that I got working there, the damage that whatever the PTSD, whatever you want to call it. Yeah, I take that with me, too. But I mean, the. The struggles and the hardships and the what I went through to learn the lessons that I can now apply to somebody that appreciates me, man, you ain't never taking that back from me. That's my Jeff.
Angry Bob [00:52:42]:
You know, I told my stepson, like, maybe we didn't realize it when we were kids and we were coming up in his business, but, like, you are better. Than what? Like, if you're not happy there, leave because you're not going to start to be happy. And if you left the job, don't go back because we don't go back with ex girlfriends. Why? They're ex girlfriends for a reason. Right? You know what I mean? It's like, don't. These guys are in these shops right now that think to yourself like, oh, mandy, I don't know what's out there. There's another job out there, and you may fall behind in your bills and shit may get messed up, but you'll be all right, and it's not gonna knock you off this earth. It's not.
Angry Bob [00:53:13]:
So go ahead, leave. And I know you're like, well, I got a family. Stuff like that. I'm not saying just angrily quit your job, but figure out a way to get out of there. There's other avenues. And you are worth it, man. If you, if you're not a bum, someone's gonna see it, man. So don't, don't stay somewhere you're not happy.
Angry Bob [00:53:29]:
There's a lot of opportunity out there and, and we're on this earth for free. We ain't got to pay nothing to stay here, man.
Jeff Compton [00:53:34]:
There's no better time right now for opportunities for us than ever been. It's the most opportunities for any technician now that's ever been in this known history, this industry. And I said a couple months ago, and I'll say it again, if you're not happy, just like Bob finished saying, if you're not happy, go find where you're going to be, because I guarantee it's out there somewhere. And I guarantee the place that you think might take you would love to have you.
Angry Bob [00:54:00]:
If you come quickly. It might not come quickly, but, but, and, you know, it may be a struggle, but, but you'll find your happy place. I mean, it just, you gotta lurk. Look, I guess, you know, it's what.
Jeff Compton [00:54:12]:
It is, but bring what you can, you know, you've got to give them something too. Like if you're, like you said, if you're a hack or, you know, you're difficult. Yeah.
Angry Bob [00:54:21]:
Or you're young, you know, if you're young, I'm not seeing, oh, it's another thing if you're a 20 years old and you thought, I'm the best out there, you're not. You got a lot to learn. Chill out, relax. But you can find other employment, you know?
Jeff Compton [00:54:32]:
Oh, for sure. That's the thing. Like, we don't have to be. The last time I lost my last job, I had another job by day's end, days end. And I'm talking like, on the way home. Yeah. I didn't get fired at nine, I got fired at noon. And by 02:00 I had one offer that was a definite and I was going to see another one and that was just the way it is.
Jeff Compton [00:54:53]:
So don't think you're ever trapped.
Angry Bob [00:54:56]:
Never, not, you're not. There's too many opportunities out here in this business, man. There's shops all over the place. Drive down any road, anywhere. Every friggin light there's another shop.
Jeff Compton [00:55:05]:
Yeah.
Angry Bob [00:55:06]:
You know.
Jeff Compton [00:55:07]:
Oh, Bob, I want to thank you for coming on, man.
Angry Bob [00:55:09]:
I thank you for having me, man. I've had a blast early. It's been fun.
Jeff Compton [00:55:13]:
Yeah, it's, um. You know, we're going to do this again. Hopefully we have a night with less. Less technical problems. But, I mean, it's. It's. It's been pretty good. Um, in closing, any comments, any.
Jeff Compton [00:55:25]:
Anything you want to say to everybody? You're kind of getting a lot of traction on tick tock, so people want to find you there.
Angry Bob [00:55:31]:
Yeah, absolutely. And, um, you know, I may come off. I always say I'm acquired taste. You know what I mean? Like, right off the bat, I may not be, you know, your flavor, but if you hang out for a little bit and get to know me, you know what I mean? I'm not so bad. And, uh, what I like to put out there more than anything else is I still love working on cars, man. I still love it today, almost 25 years in as much as I did when I was a kid. And I'm enjoying even more now the fact that I'm able to pass it down to another generation. Generation and, you know, and pass some knowledge out there to the world.
Angry Bob [00:56:01]:
And it's. It's just. It's. It's really fun. It's a really interesting time, and I'm having a lot of fun. Thank you for having me, man.
Jeff Compton [00:56:06]:
Awesome, man. I appreciate it. We'll be talking to you. All right, thanks, everybody. Hey, if you could do me a favor real quick and, like, comment on and share this episode, I'd really appreciate it. And please, most importantly, set the podcast to automatically download every Tuesday morning. As always, I'd like to thank our amazing guests for their perspectives and expertise, and I hope that you'll please join us again next week on this journey of change. Thank you to my partners in the ASA group and to the changing the industry podcast.
Jeff Compton [00:56:36]:
Remember what I always say, in this industry, you get what you pay for. Here's hoping everyone finds their missing ten millimeter, and we'll see you all again next time.