Technical Are you a Happy Mechanic or a Mad Mechanic

I am 65 and I use to let my temper get the best of me. Now if I am in the shop and something is not going according to plan I grab a beer ,sit in one the big office chairs in the shop and in a matter of moments one of my two big shop cats ,Max and Maverick will curl up in my lap and start purring. The only problem is once the first beer is gone I look down and they are curled up sound asleep and I don't have the heart to wake them to get another. So I just lean back and take nap too! Don't get as much done , but at least I didn't throw an expensive Snap On wrench and bounced it off the wall into a freashly painted quarter panel either! lol Larry

 

I'm a happy mechanic working on old stuff and an angry mechanic working on the car I have to drive to work tomorrow.

 

I am replying only to say AMEN.

I am working on my first Ford project in years and I have come to realize just how backwards it is from Chevrolet stuff. Ford engineers love to make things interesting. I don't mind it one bit as I really like the truck, but man it will test your patience!

 

Well the solution, obviously, is to grab two beers in the first place.

 

I made my living at it for 47 years. Happy with the work , not so much with management.

 

Get mad, get stupid.

They say the brain can NOT do both at the same time. It takes a lot of work for the body to get angry but once everything kicks in, wise decision making is the first to shut down because the body needs that energy to pump you up..

Those Ramblers used to make me crazy...

 

Not mad or happy, the best description for me is 'dogged'...

 

I'm usually a happy mechanic, although there are times when I get pissed at the idiot who engineered something really stupid, something difficult to impossible for the mechanic to deal with. You know, when something that should be a simple 10 minute job turns into several hours, because some idiot(s) designed something with no thought about the poor sumbitch that was going to have to work on it.

But as a pro heavy equipment mechanic I found I could talk myself into stressing out over a job I knew was going to be a pain in the ass before I even got started. If it was a field job I could fret about it all the way to the jobsite, and be in a horrible mood by the time I got there. When I figured out what I was doing to myself I stopped doing that. I may have known that it was going to be a dirty, crappy job, but oh well, just accept it and get on with things. When I did that I realized how much better the job went. It was all in the attitude I took with me to do the job, and I was in control of that. I couldn't control the stupid engineer, I couldn't control the stupid operator who broke the thing, there's a lot I couldn't control, but I could control my attitude, and that made all the difference in the world.

 

My fun vehicles are heavily modified by me - "the idiot who engineered something really stupid" is me.

 

One Bad 51 Merc, I like your response. I have 5 cats, but I think they know me well enough to keep out of the way when I'm wrenching. I've never been a professional, so I'll have to say 50/50 to the OP. In other words, if it's too frustrating, I can walk away. However, I'm not in the habit of paying someone to do what I'm capable of doing myself. I do a lot of reading and rereading, and sometimes take much longer than any professional could ever get away with. But if there's any doubt it's not right, I fix it. If I can't, then I seek a professional. Unfortunately, the professionals don't always get it right, and there's a good chance they won't tell you if they didn't.

 

LMAO Glad to see I'm not the only one manipulated by cats

...and all 3 of us are pretty good a napping too

 

I am happy to have a nice garage to work in. If and when things get out of hand I just take a break and leave things laying. Basically I am a happy old man when working on my hot rod.......

 

This is how I am too lol.

 

im happy when im fabbing something but regular mech. repair is just a hassle. i used to have unlimited patience, but the older i get the less patience for B.S. i have.

 

As a fellow Professional, I could not have said it better. It’s all in how you look at something.


Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.

 

When I'm modifying and fabricating I'm happy... when I'm doing repairs... not so much!

 

I sometimes fluctuate like a pendulum, from good to bad and back again.

 

You could say the same thing about guitar picks....

 

Happy to be able to be in shop with no time limit and enjoy every day there. Dawg stands guard at the door awaiting next snack. What can go wrong?

 

And a 1/2" wrench.