Saturday, April 30, 2011

PDR Dent Guy and His Satellite Radio

I'm going to get to the specifics of my relationship with satellite radio in a bit. First, I'd like to explain one of the many reasons I love being a PDR technician simply because the thought of satellite radio makes me think of it. I travel throughout the New Jersey towns and neighborhoods. I visit people's homes and make repairs to their cars. Unlike doing work for dealers, auto auctions and body shops, I'm dealing with the person who owns the car and may feel a real personal attachment to the vehicle. These people really love what we do for them and show it with some form of appreciation even if it's only a smile. This is easily the best part of my job. In large dealerships, I've never felt this. You're lucky to get a head nod, and more lucky if they look to see the work that's been done. This is what allows the dealerships to be a training ground for incompletely trained or lazy technicians. Anyway...satellite radio.

"The dent guy and the satellite radio" is interesting to me because of the amount of time and where I listen to it. I listen in the car, at lunch, and while I'm on the job. I do all this from my vehicle that serves as my office, cafeteria and toolbox. As a mobile PDR technician, I have the ability to work on cars at people's work, home or just about any parking lot that the client desires. So, the lack of censorship is playing havoc with my image. I tend to zone into my work so deeply sometimes; I fail to notice the curious people around me as great obscenities flow from the mouths of Howard Stern staffers and other personalities on satellite radio. The embarrassment goes away but the situation often repeats itself at the next stop. I hope these people won't think less of me as I could never live without this great source of media.

To conclude this drivel, I will leave you with this. Every now and then, there comes that special car or truck with a large yet easy repair and Howard playing after I turn the key allowing their battery to shoulder the load for a change...if only for a moment. These are the simple things that are real symphonies for me.

Shopping Carts are Unavoidable

I went to the butcher shop with a friend of mine who happens to be a cop. He was driving a cosmetically rough pick up truck at the time. While we were exiting the shop and heading toward the truck, we observed a woman emptying the contents of her shopping cart into her car's trunk (Cop talk.) This lady was parked about seven empty spots down from us and we were parked out pretty far away as well. When she finished loading, she heaved the shopping cart down the driveway in the direction of the store. Unfortunately for her, the shopping cart wasn't alligned properly and was pulling to the right...right into this off duty cop's truck. This guy mind f&^%$d her in a way only cops and school teachers can really do. This lady was so frazzled by the mental beating she took; she didn't know if she should dislodge the cart from the tailgate, cry, leave, or just continue looking stupidly at us.

In the end, she removed the cart from the truck in disgust whispering something along the lines of "I gotta waste my time on this junk." Classy lady. It was all pretty funny, but also sad. Here I am, a Paintless Dent Repair Technician, and I can't even enjoy the actions of one of my industry's most loyal supporters. She was one of those types that park really far away to avoid cars opening their doors into her door and this is how she acted to other people's property.

Point is ...There isn't much of a point except this...Even if you park far away from others, eventually someone is probably going to Hail Mary a shopping cart to the deep spots. But if you leave it in the driveway, acorns will likely rain upon your roof or a freak hail storm will target your yard. The garage isn't safe either as it is bicycle handle and skateboard turf, let alone the teenager attempting to back it out against the sides of the house.

FEAR NOT. The good news is that Knockout Dent Removal can make these repairs using Paintless Dent Removal.