Mental health fix.

[alleyyooper]

My job in 1995 had taken a toll on my mental health. I had been traveling all over the mid west listening to dealers complain about customers and customers who were complaining about dealer service.

My company was in business to attempt the dealer/the big 3 from having to buy back lemons. We also had a main building in SE Michigan where the big 3 sent lemon buy backs to attempt to fix the problem so the car or truck could be sold as a used unit.


I was working a lot of hours about 12 hours per day and when I returned home on the week ends I was going into the shop then.


So because I was pretty much at the end of my rope I asked for 2 weeks vacation in December 1995.

I had just returned from a week off in mid November but it just wasn’t enough to rejuvenate my mind.


The two weeks were granted for December starting the 2nd. I packed my truck with all the gear I needed to live at the cabin In Michigans up. Muzzle loader deer season started on the 2nd also and Squirrel season was open again.


I arrive at the cabin unloaded all my gear and supplies, set up the generator fixed a quick lunch. After I had finished lunch I grab my 22lr a Rugar 77-22 and started the ATV and rode down the drive way and the road to our little bit of hard woods.


There was a big old oak tree there with a knot hole where I had counted 8 squirrels go in one evening during fire arm deer season.

When it started getting dusk the squirrels started coming to spend the night in the tree.

I got my limit of 6 just from that single tree that evening.


Rode back to the cabin and thru some more wood in the furnace and started the generator. The last time I was able to start it that trip.

Cleaned the squirrels made a batter of butter milk and flour dredged the clean squirrels in it and fried them and baked a potato.


It was -18 below zero when I went out and shut the generator off.

The next morning I went out to start it and it was -26 below zero and the generator being a manual pull cord start rolled over really slow and just would not start.


Thankfully I have a 10 cup percolator to make coffee on the stove top while I fixed some ham and eggs for breakfast.

When that was finished I dressed and got the Muzzle loader started the ATV drove down the road to our property line border. Left the ATV walked down the line to where a finger from our cedar swamp stuck out and a finger from e cedar swamp on federal land stuck out making a nice funnel about 50 yards wide.


I seen a few does cross over there but no bucks and that is the only tag I had plus that is a bucks only area.


At 10:00 AM I go start the ATV rode back to camp. Put more wood in the furnace and it had warmed up to -19 below. After I got warmed up I went out and tried to start the generator again. I carried a bunch of wood in the cabin so I wouldn’t have to do it the rest of the week.


That pretty much covered the week deer hunt early morning and squirrels till late afternoon when I went deer hunting again.


Pressure cracking on the bay sounded like a rifle shoot followed by what sounded like a semi on a rain slick road.


Sunday afternoon at the end of the week I packed every thing and loaded the pick ups for the trip home. I arrived home about midnight and got everything off loaded.


I didn’t have to be back at work till 4:00PM so Monday morning I tackled the generator.

I found ice in the main jet. Think it was from running in that cold and the partly empty fuel tank condensing moisture.

Since then I bought a Electric start generator and always run dry gas in the fuel when it is cold.



Al

 

[srb08]

Helping auto manufacturers screw their customers couldn't have been very satisfying.
I can see where that job would suck all of the joy out of life.

Glad you survived!

 

[alleyyooper]

We did not help Auto Mfgs screw their customers. In fact we did the work required to make the product right.The dealers may not have liked us tieing up a spot in their shop but they didn't have a choice. All I had to do is call my boss and he would have called corprate to advise them they were going to have to buy back a lemon because their dealer didn't want us fixing the product.

It still gave the customer the option if we didn't fix the product to their satifaction they could still under the states which ever one have the product bought back from them.

We were not in bussiness to screw a customer for the sake of corporate or the dealer.

Al

 

[srb08]

Good to hear that Al.
I guess I misunderstood your original post.
I thought you were there to put the car buyer off until they gave up.

My faith in humanity is restored.

 

[JohnnyBlade]

Another good story Al! -26 man that may have made stay inside and play checkers against myself all these squirrel storys make me wanna start hunting them. Never really got into it. All the lil pieces of deer hunting land that over the years ive been granted permission to hunt was because we would agree to bow only. Sometimes wer im at the only lil place u have to hang a stand is in somebodys front or back half of maybe 5 acres. The one piece of ground i had to hunt that i could shoot a gun i would only shoot during deer season. I guess i always had fear of bumping deer off the property if i was out there plugging squirrels.

 

[alleyyooper]

Hunting squirrels is for me fun and puts some good eatting on the stove top or in the oven.

With todays pellet rifles it can be a silent sport too.

Al