I’ve mentioned before that even out here in the boonies, walking around openly carrying a big-ass revolver every single day will get you a bit of a rep. It’s the good-but-sometimes-irritating kind of rep, where people expect you to be willing to rise from your breakfast and go kill something on no notice. Hey, we don’t live in a park.
But imitation being the sincerest form of flattery, I do kinda like it when I get the notion I’m being imitated.
Neighbor D only owns one handgun that I know about…
…and he wears it when he and L go riding, which hasn’t happened very much this winter, and otherwise he keeps it in its holster rolled up in its belt. When we go to the big town together he has been known to slide the whole thing under the seat of the truck.
Speaking of the truck, it was the reason D&L wanted to go to the big town this morning. I spent the better part of three frickin’ hours in the waiting room of a large Dodge dealership this morning, waiting for some clod to finish changing the oil and rotating the tires. What the…Okay, look, I was a dealership wrench for more years than I like to remember, working on flat rate, and I like every other wrench on the line considered an oil change and tire rotation to be money in the frickin’ bank. Geez, you can crank one of those out in fifteen minutes tops, and as I recall it paid an hour.
(ahem) But I digress.
Point being, I was sitting in this dealership waiting room feeling myself growing older and the clothes actually rotting on my body when D happened to rise from the couch and remove his jacket. This left his upper body dressed in a plaid shirt and vest, the latter of which inadequately concealed the large leather holster of a Ruger New Vaquero in .45 Colt.
(sniff) And I was so proud. That’s all I’m saying.
As a customer, I will do almost anything to avoid a dealership service department. Granted, with today’s cars there are things that only a dealership can do. Still, I probably wouldn’t take a car to a dealership for something as routine as an oil change even if the service were “free”.
Every. Single. Frikkin’ stealership that I’ve been too, for any kind of maintenance (OK, I took the trucks to the dealership three times in the last five or six years, all of those times were because I had so much on the plate I couldn’t split off two or three hours to do a full lube job, tire rotation, etc)…anyway, EVERY SINGLE TIME they screwed up. First time – forgot to replace oil in engine. Yep, they drained it alright…but whoever the windowlicker was that had that job in their bay forgot to put new oil back in. Yes, I got a new engine out of that one. Second time, oil change again. Pick up truck, pop hood, pull dipstick….OK, oil is in. Check under truck for “full chassis lube”…yeah, like I figured, all zerks I can see have moss growing on them…point that out to “service writer” (another guy that can’t distinguish his ass from a hole in the ground), he mumbles something and hands me a coupon for 20% off the next service.
Great. 20% off already shitty service, what a deal. Asshole probably eats shitty food at buffets too. “But the shitty food is cheap!”
Anyway, drive to jobsite, unload truck, spend day doing trimwork and dealing with head shaking requests from the client (hey, you want to pay for it, I’ll go right ahead and agree with you that black paint, with purple trim and sparkles is a great combination for that new bathroom), start loading truck after the day, spot big oil stain under truck….yep. Windowlicker (WL) didn’t feel the need to tighten oil drain plug.
The last one was a major service job on the truck, in prep for a long haul trip to Alaska. I got the truck into the shop a month before the date we’d start loading it…three weeks in, they still hadn’t started the job. That was only the beginning of that particular joy ride.
OK,, time to drink. Plus I’ve got to call PODS and scream at them for their screw up today…that’s only been going on for seven days now.
Anyway…you guys keep carrying. I’m proud of ya too. And I’m not going to say whether or not I carry, since I still live in this supposedly free state you escaped from, Joel.
I can’t begin to tell you how many Blackhawks I’ve seen in pickups in rural Arizona and New Mexico – in the middle of the front seat under a pile of winter jackets or under the seat like you describe. Never know when you might have to pound in a fencing staple – or reason with a mule.
I’m in the middle of putting together an appointment book holster for a relative.
Behind every blade of grass…
Last time I was at a dealership it was for an ABS recall notice. I got about a block away from the place and knew for certain I was losing brakes. They just forgot to tighten the fittings.
It’s a sad world out there. My first husband worked (briefly) for a Union gas station, going back and forth between a garage bay and pumping gas. The boss man tried to introduce him to a few subtle business builder ideas that would bring in more “business.” Like a special ring that would cut fan belts. I’ll leave the rest to your imagination, but my husband would not play the game and quit as soon as he found another job. He worked for Shell for a lot of years, finally becoming a manager of the station. Nobody there ever hinted that they might have a better bottom line if they helped a few things to t I would imagine that kind of thing goes on all the time, or maybe worse. So it isn’t just incompetence… sometimes they are actually crooks.
… if they helped a few things to “break.”
Don’t know what happened to make those last two words vanish…
From ML: “Don’t know what happened to make those last two words vanish…”
Vast conspiracy.
From CZX:”…“service writer” (another guy that can’t distinguish his ass from a hole in the ground)”
“Service writer” or “service consultant”: Whatever you call them, I hope there is a special place in hell for them. The very best ones are simply ignorant, the others are arrogant thieves.
The Ruger New Vaquero is an amazing piece of machinery. I was thinking of buying one last summer and a friend who has one let me try it out. The one thing that I could not wrap my tiny brain around was the sights. I could not hit the side of a barn with it unless I pressed the muzzle into the wall. I will admit to never having tried one before and only put 50 rounds down range. I figure it was the operator (me) that was at fault not the gun. So instead I picked up a .357 Blackhawk with the extra 9mm cylinder and decent sights. It’s cheap to shoot (9mm) and I hit what I’m aiming at most of thee time. :^)
I was coerced into getting my vehicles fixed at the dealer by my wife who figured that if something was wrong the “experts” would be able to fix it then and there. Well that ended a while ago because I caught them trying to screw around.
BTW where I used to work the fleet services guys were a real joy to deal with. It was common to bring a vehicle to the garage for an oil change only to be told it would be a while. Usually the mechanics were “busy” at cards or some such and thee “15 minute” oil chang would take a day or more.
@ Plug Nickel Outfit
What is an “appointment book holster”? Tried looking it up and didn’t find anything other than a belt pouch for an appointment book, but based on context I’m assuming that’s not it.
@hightecrebel –
Here’s a couple examples:
Galco Defense Planner Concealed Carry Case
Executive Pistol Case
In this case I’m starting off with a nice looking leather day planner case found at a thrift store. I’ve removed the binder rings from the spine of the case and am now just figuring out how to make it secure and as idiot-proof as possible.
I’m not saying it’s the best way to carry – but if it at least puts a firearm in the immediate proximity of the carrier – that’s a start. Better than at home in the desk drawer.