Truck Update II

Yesterday at work, I got two phone calls from the crook mechanics.

The first was, ostensibly, to follow up on whether the clutch was working. I chickened out and said yes, failing to add that it was working because we had another mechanic fix it. Then they asked about the ball joints. I got braver. Said we had another mechanic look at them, and he said they were just fine.

"Ooh," the caller said. "Because they were really loose." She knows this because she's reading from the computer (the description plus its accompanying exclamation points) not because she actually saw the loose ball joints.

I sense they're late on the boat payment and are fishing for dumb customers. And I admit, when it comes to car repair (and, I admit, to most things) I have dumb written all over my face. See this entry for the reasons why.

So I leave it at that.

Later, while I'm frantically trying to get some paperwork done, they call again. Thank heaven for caller ID. I let the phone ring, then go to my handy e-mail to listen to the message (a distinct advantage of VoIP over ordinary land line). This time, it's the mechanic, in full Consernation Mode, offering to show me the loose ball joints if I cared to come by the shop. Uh huh. As if I could tell a loose ball joint from a badger hole. Buddy, we got our second opinion, from a mechanic we've been going to for years. He says the ball joints are fine. If anyone is going to stop by your shop to observe the loose ball joints, it's going to be our mechanic, not me, because then you two can have a Godzilla-Mothra style battle while I watch from the sidelines.

Two different worlds, I suppose. In 2005, when the truck threw a rod, we took it first to the crook mechanic, and then our regular mechanic. Both offered to fixy fixy. But our regular mechanic did the fix for $2,000 less. The crook mechanic only comes into the mix because the regular mechanic is a 60-mile round trip from home. But we still go to him, for obvious reasons.