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A great man named George Bush said it best when he said,"There's an old saying in Tennessee - I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee - that says, fool me once, shame on - shame on you. Fool me - you can't get fooled again."
That's what happened to me. I showed up at the specialty coatings guy's shop on Saturday and what happened? He didn't show up...AGAIN!
Am I a complete idiot? Don't answer that one. To much nodding causes cancer. Really, it does! I swear! OK maybe it doesn't, but I don't need a bunch of people with nothing better to do than reading this blog criticizing me. Besides, I'm pretty bummed out right now.
I waited foolishly at the shop for over two hours and two extra large double-doubles (for my International readers 'double-double' is Canadian talk for 'coffee with two creams and two sugars'). The guys at their other shop that does the anodizing showed up for work so I left my exhaust pipes there and told them how there co-worker screwed me around. They pretended to be shocked but they weren't that convincing.
So another wasted Saturday, and another $20 in gas (about 3.5 liters) gone. I won't be able to talk to the guy until Monday. I can't wait to hear the excuse. I wonder who died this week? Time to drown my sorrows in some imported beer. Part of my training for Europe requires that I get my palette used to the beers I will encounter along the way. I may not be able to speak the language, but as long as I know what beers to expect I can order like a local.
I was going to write this blog much sooner but I procrastinated and by the time I started writing it many things had happened so I may as well just write the whole experience in one shot. SO let's add two days and pretend that it's now the following Monday.
I called Ryan at Surf Tech Coatings in Port Moody and he was a little hesitant to talk to me. I could hear a bit of nervousness in his voice. He was very proactive about apologizing profusely and his story sounded like one that I would have made up so I let my disappointment subside a bit. Apparently on the Friday after I talked to him they had a few beers at work and they got into a yelling match with a bunch of skateboarders (there is a skate park across the street... how lucky) and Ryan took it upon himself to go after one of them, at which point he went over on his ankle and had to go to the hospital. Doesn't that sound like an Elvis story without the dull thump sound I make when I fall? He said he thought about me when he woke up hungover in the afternoon and that he felt bad for me. I was going to give him a bit of grief until he told me that my pipes would be ready to pick up after work. Hooray! OK all is forgiven.
I head out there straight after work and it dawns on me that I may arrive to a closed shop again. I decide to call as I'm driving and make him promise to wait for me. As well, I get his cell phone number just in case.
When I get there I meet my limping friend and I see my pipes hanging there. I belive the kids nowadays use the acronym - OMG!! They are nice! Here's a before and after picture but it doesn't really do it justice.
Now that I have seen the workmanship I realize why he came so highly recommended. Now we can talk powder coating!
