The place is falling apart....so it seems

Falling down around us...

There are times when one has to wonder about what it is all about. You ever have times when you think that everything is falling apart around you and there is nothing that can be done about it? There just isn't enough time in a day to take care of business.

Here on the right, or maybe a little above, is a picture of our ACW or automatic car wash. This is the pedistal where customers come in and pay and then enter into the car wash bay. Kind of a "pay at the pump" kind of deal. That machine on the right with the Visa sign is the credit card acceptor. Kind of a new technology for car washes. We were one of the first ones in the state that accepted credit cards at a self serve car wash. Hadn't really been done before. It was kind of a gamble on our part. Very expensive to purchase the equipment with no promise that the return would come. You never know about a self serve customer and their attitudes.


However, now comes to the point of this whole entry. Here on the left is a picture of what is left of our very expensive credit card reader. I guess someone needed it more than we did. Took the whole system out of the box. Don't know what they are going to do with it as it's only going to work at our Murray wash. It was custom made for that system. I wonder if someone thought that if they stole the readers they could get card information out of them? No luck. You swipe a card now days in a credit card reader and the numbers and your card information is immediately sent to visa and is not retained on the property.

Anyway, there are times when it seems the whole place is falling down around us.

So, what does a guy working at a car wash really do with his time? I've been asked countless times over the years with something like "you know, I've been thinking about getting into the car wash business". My response is always the same; "you're nuts".

I have no idea what started this whole idea of washing cars for a living. Going to college and getting my degree in engineering really wasn't a pre-qualifier for getting into the car wash business. But then again, we've all got to do something in this world. Do I use the things that I learned in college for washing cars? Probably every day. Here is what I do (or don't do sometimes): mechanic, electrician, accountant, tax man, chemist, public relations, police negotiations, advertising executive, employee relations, computer programmer, quarter counter, token seller, vacuum fixer, parking lot sweeper... well, you get the idea. I'm it. There really isn't anyone else there to lend a hand. We don't have staff meetings in the conference room and no specialty training. I'm pretty much all there is and perhaps that is the reason that there are times when things go very wrong. I remember the time when water was coming from under the front door when I pulled into the parking lot that one morning...

So, this is it

Don't really know what this blogging is all about. But, with the help of others, namely my sister Linda, I've been encouraged to get going with this type of thing. First and foremost I really must admit that I'm not much into writing and sharing. Coming from a more conservative, closed-feeling part of the world one would, at times, become uncomfortable with sharing ones thoughts, ideas, activities and such with the world. But as times have changed it seems that we've all become somewhat more open in our experiences and I believe that we've gained from sharing our feelings, fears and observations as times have changed. There are those that, I believe, suffer with the false beliefs that they are alone in this world and must struggle with the daily challenges that they face. Its a shame, obviously, that they feel that they are alone. I believe that we are never alone but simply unaware of the concern and merits of having relationships with loving friends and family around us. So, we're off.