just an observation

[borumrm]

Guess I am not the only person that has nothing else to do at 4am....I know it isn't 4AM everywhere and actually right now it is closer to 5AM but I have been up since 4....I just noticed on the forum page that there are 13 different folks viewing the pages. What the heck...I know today is a holiday but does anybody in the carwash biz ever sleep.....

 

[Whale of a Wash]

I think to be a car wash owner an early riser is a must. Too many things to do before the customers come in. Today is even busier for me, nice wx in ND, all the tunnels are closed for T=Day. We close the washes at 10pm, so on nice summer days I open alot of them before 6am. A little later when it's real cold.

 

[Red Baron]

My insurance agent told my wife "There are 3 people in Idalou, Tx who're up and at work at 4:30 am every morning, myself, your husband at the car wash, and the local cop".

The nice thing about being up early is that I can do the things that need to be done without working around customers. Plus, I can usually get my stuff done and have my choice of parking spots at Home Depot. It's a dull life but it's mine.

 

[rph9168]

I find getting up early and getting things done usually relieves the stress of the day and actually makes it seem to go faster and smoother.

 

[bigleo48]

I find if I sleep in...my wife gets things done before I even awake

Plus I'm useless before I have at least 2 strong coffees!

Big

 

[MEP001]

I find that no matter how far away I park from the Home Depot, some jerk will still park next to me and put another door ding in my car.

 

[bigleo48]

I find that no matter how far away I park from the Home Depot, some jerk will still park next to me and put another door ding in my car.

Yeah...for me no matter where I park my Ferrari, people spit on it

 

[Red Baron]

I find that no matter how far away I park from the Home Depot, some jerk will still park next to me and put another door ding in my car.

I park on the downhill side of the shopping cart corral. I've found that those who ding doors and don't take care of their shopping cart when they've emptied it, drive hooptys.

My '07 Powerstroke has 170,000 miles, and 1 door ding. Oh yeah, I use my truck in newspaper ads sometimes: The gray For pickup you see parked at the car wash a lot, has been thru our touchfree automatic 150+ times, and not 1 scratch.

 

[Ghetto Wash]

I park on the downhill side of the shopping cart corral. I've found that those who ding doors and don't take care of their shopping cart when they've emptied it, drive hooptys.

Did you mean uphill side?

By the way I drive a hoopty and wouldn't have it any other way. It's pretty much a rolling tool box with everything I need to repair anything at my 5 SS's. Scratches and dents from dragging tools in and out of it for years. I can weld, repair a brick wall, rebuild a pump or whatever comes up (and something always does), and its already at hand on my truck.

My wifes car, thats another story. She doesn't let me touch it. She calls my truck a blue turd.

BTW, I wake up at the crack of noon.

 

[MEP001]

Did you mean uphill side?

He meant using the cart corral as a shield to cart left rolling across the lot. I sometimes do that too because you can park closer to it and leave more room on the other side so that car's door won't reach yours.

I bought a cheap used truck when I was putting too much wear and tear on my car with the mileage and the tools in the trunk. No one ever door-dings the truck.

 

[Red Baron]

Did you mean uphill side?

By the way I drive a hoopty and wouldn't have it any other way. It's pretty much a rolling tool box with everything I need to repair anything at my 5 SS's. Scratches and dents from dragging tools in and out of it for years. I can weld, repair a brick wall, rebuild a pump or whatever comes up (and something always does), and its already at hand on my truck.

My wifes car, thats another story. She doesn't let me touch it. She calls my truck a blue turd.

BTW, I wake up at the crack of noon.

Nope, I park on the far side of the cart corral on the downhill side so that runaway carts hit the cart corral not my truck. At Academy Sporting Goods I park 2/3 toward the end of the parking lot because the pavement begins sloping back toward the building out there and the carts won't get to my truck. And if the wind is blowing hard, like it does here a lot, I try to park with the rear bumper on the windward side so that any runaway carts hit my rear bumper, not my headlights. Obsessive, I know. Thirty years ago when I went to work for my dad, one of the first lessons he taught me was to always be thinking because one way to do things is a little better than the other ways.

Yours doesn't meet the technical definition of hoopty. Yours is more likely a clunker. The difference? A clunker is a cheap vehicle you drive because you choose to save money, whereas a hoopty is a clunker you have to drive beause you've made poor choices in your life and it's all you can afford.

 

[Red Baron]

He meant using the cart corral as a shield to cart left rolling across the lot. I sometimes do that too because you can park closer to it and leave more room on the other side so that car's door won't reach yours.

Yep. And if I'm forced to park among the other cars, if given the option, I'll park on the passenger side of one rather than the driver side...if the driver comes out before I get back, someone will be opening his driver side door 100% of the time, but less often will the passenger door be opened. Also parking next to the H/C zone reduces the chance you'll get a ding.

It is true that when I have my massive stroke from worrying about all the little things, I'll be driven to the hospital in an '07 truck with only 1 door ding.