Whelp, it's been a minute. Almost nine years, roughly. So what happened to your favorite OCD car blogger (me)?

I went to the dark side...and decided to become a professional mechanic. Here's the rough breakdown:

• Decided NOT to go to tech school and end up owing over forty thousand dollars by the end of it. I figured I'd try getting my foot in the door first. So that's what I did.
• Started at a small independent shop. Not a great environment to work in, but met one of best friends (who is now a independent BMW tech).
• Left there and started at another independent, which was owned and run by two brothers who were utterly insane. I realized later that this was really par for the course with most independent shops; insanity.
• Became a tech at a large Honda shop, with twenty techs just in the main shop. Very interesting experience. I was not prepared for really complicated diag work and high level repairs, but they kept giving them to me. Didn't matter what my skill level was; it was my TURN. Also found out how bad warranty work had become for techs everywhere. It's horrible, especially for a newer tech. If you're flat rate, you'll actually lose money working. The system is fuuuuuuu....n.
• Went to a tiny Volvo dealership to make more money. By this point, I'd realized that there is NO loyal in this business and the best thing a tech can do is jump ship(s) to make more and more money. You're nuts if you don't. The dealership was family run, but they treated all of the techs like literal slaves and I'd had enough pretty quickly. There's only so much abuse and direct disrespect a person should take.
• Ended up at an independent Volvo shop, again run by lunatics. People like that shouldn't be allowed to run a business, of any sort.
• Became a mobile Safelite tech, because I was curious about automotive glass. Another company that outrageously abuses their employees. I'd had enough when the temps dropped below single digits and I started getting hurt. They chew through employees like it's going out of style. Doubt it? Just check out the constant ads for new employees. Why? Cuz nobody stays (and some people even die).

So there you have it in a nutshell, the last nine years. And I haven't touched this blog since. Will I again? Maybe. There's still more automotive minutiae to explore. Stay tuned...

K2 Mystery Car