MRSA - Methicillin-Resistant Staphyococcus Aureus

Are you ready for this in your shops? I saw this recently in "Brake and Front End" magazine and paid no attention.

I have the kind of hands my friends make fun of. Cut them up all the time and I've had at least one black nail since 1992. Blood and busted knuckles are part of our world and it can happen anytime. Gloves do work, but have you ever tried to screw in a valve core with welding gloves? We do our part in keeping a clean workplace and not leaving things lying around the shop to trip over.

MR bumped his shin on the alignment rack circa. 6/22. I guess if you're half asleep like he is most of the time, it's very easy to do, but that's another issue. It was sore but he paid no attantion...he forgot about it. A week later I noticed he could hardly walk and he had an infection. Went to doctor, doctor treated and he left with a prescription. I hadn't filed a comp claim yet, so he had 5 paid days off and he came back to work the next week 7/7.

About 3 weeks later, he was having more problems, and this time was admitted to the hospital for 4 days. They/We don't want him coming back to an environment where this could happen again and he's been out on comp for a month.

MR is a 2 small pizza's with a gallon of Gatorade for lunch" kind of guy and we love him for it. MR is a likeable, solid tech with a butt crack the size of the Grand Canyon and I want him to get 100% better.

MRSA stands for Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus. This is a serious “super bug” that is everywhere. If your skin is broken, you can get it. This is the stuff that you hear about where someone gets a paper cut and three days later they are dead.

There's really nothing you can do. I spent $100 at CVS for this stuff after looking at our paltry first aid kit. Take heed and take a look at your first aid box...and make sure it's stocked with the latest in antibacterial and staph products and all cuts get treated immediately.

Case of the flesh

Nothing can last forever and the good run I was having has ended. August has been a rough month and now I have some time, I don't know what to do with it.

Probably should be planning, looking at my bank balance and not spending days putting out fires, doing the day to day stuff that drains you of any imagination you may have had this morning. Putting out fires and playing let's make a deal, it took a week to get this together and I'm in a slump.

Slumps are about confidence and DW had a 2000 S-10 Blazer with an EVAP code we couldnt fix the first time. We should have sold everthing to begin with, but he's a regular, and 75% of these just need a gas cap and vent solenoid. At my direction that's what we did and a week later and he came back agitated, because the light had returned. I was in no mood to explain that he could need the $600 air pump that I didn't think he'd need the week before.

Like all the times we've given him a ride home, changed a fuse or worse, chase an electrical problem in his coffee-drip and nicotine plated interior, were out the window! Just like that. And when I gave him his $224 back and recommended he go to the local GM dealer that's 20 miles away, he didn't want it...go figure?

Love this ad from South Africa circa. 1984

hating vacations..

With my 5 employees, you'd think I would do a better job at making sure the place is covered but it seems like every year is a drama.

Today it was me, SJ(C_Tech) and NG, our 20 yr old trainee. Granted it was slow-ish, but the comedy of errors that ensued..... MS was on legit vacation he's been taking for 10 years...same week in August. BB,the Manager who started last year slid his name on to the vacation calendar at the same time my mother was visiting from South Africa..and he was playing dumb at the same time..not cool. It became a big drama and I got screwed

MS is back tommorrow. Did I mention MR(B_tech)? He bumped his leg on something a month ago, didn't say anything and now he's got some flesh eatin' bacteria munching on his leg..he's out for a few weeks and it was real nice to see him today,while I was changing the belt on the Sprinter van and the phone was ringing...that's a big drama too, but got to be nice.

The Alternator King...

"Given the structure of the proposed experiment, it may or may not be possible to actually perform the experiment and, in the case that it is possible for the experiment to be performed, there may be no intention of any kind to actually perform the experiment in question".

Too much time to think, but happy birthday Hans Christian Ørsted 1777-1851. Saw him on Google today and had no idea he discovered that electric currents induce magnetic fields,was the first to produce aluminum and the first to define the "Thought Process"

At the end of the day

When everyone has gone home, I sit. July was a good month and we did $105 000 in sales vs.$94 000 in 2008. Car count was 436 vs. 419 and tires were level: 374 this year vs. 382. Worst margin was the Yokohama's @ 16.5%, but we only sold 20 thankfully as these were mostly Tire Rack deals. Sold 30 Michelin's at 17%, again HP Tire Rack deals, but I'll take the service.