Monday, May 24, 2021

Growth

Not Kubota's truck, but close enough to give you a feel for what he is driving.

Kubota has a "new" truck.

It is his and the bank's. He bought it from a friend.

It is twenty years old, oversized tires and "lifted". According to him it is a man's truck, unlike the S-10 and the bone-stock, 2WD, base engine gasser I drive.

He was feeling pretty darned good about life. His job nets him twice as much cash money as I have coming in. His expenses are low. He likes his boss. Life is good.

And then...and then...

He started pricing out how much it was going to cost to fix the boy-toy that his friend had been flogging at Silver Lake and on the roads around Eaton Rapids. I presume Kubota was in the passenger seat egging him on some of the time.

Lessee: New tires all the way around is a minimum of $1000, new tie-rod ends, shocks and perhaps wheel bearings and an alignment might be another $1000. Wet-sand and clear-coat the hood and roof that was buffed down to the color-coat to make it shiny might run $500.

I won't help him, monetarily or physically. He hasn't asked and I am not going to offer. This is his baby. Clearly words bounced off and he is in learn-by-doing mode regarding vehicles. My not wanting to help is not vindictive or small. It is the stark realization that any help I offer will slow his growth and learning.

You know what they say, "If it has spark-plugs or she wears lipstick, she is going to cost you money.*"


*However, some vehicles and some women provide significantly more satisfaction and absorb far fewer resources than others. On our first date Mrs ERJ's menu choice was $1.47


9 comments:

  1. My 97 yo father always told my 3 boys to watch the ABCs that would derail their lives if they got involved too early or couldn't control themselves.

    Alcohol (and drugs)
    Babes
    Cars

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  2. He had a similar one for his granddaughters, but instead of "Babes" it was "Boys."

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  3. If it has Tata's or tires, it's Trouble.

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  4. The value of wisdom is that it is paid for by the cost of experience.

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  5. He'll learn. One of the first things I learned about buying a truck was get rid of the oversized tires. Tires properly sized for the truck will save on the price of tires as well as fuel mileage. It will also save on tie rod ends and wheel alignments. Of course, mine was a work truck used to haul my tools and material from job to job.

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  6. A 20 year old truck with a note on it? It better be a REALLY nice truck.
    But I may be unusual - I've never had a car loan and I plan to never get one.

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  7. I like my $1000 down and $0 easy monthly payments plan, but then my truck is 40 years old.

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  8. Paraphrasing, because I can't remember the exact quote, "Wisdom is learning how to make good choices from experience, a lot of which is gained by making bad choices"

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  9. Sigh... He's got to 'learn' for himself... Like it or not, since he didn't listen!

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