no, i didn't run my own business. Its actually a long story... its going to bounce back... back and forth like a pulp fiction movie, so take the time an read if you want.
I started by working at a dealership, washing cars all day long, getting them ready for delivery's, cleaning restoring trade-ins and such. Ive always liked working on cars... it was my passion... not mechanical work, but everything else. Two of my best friends also work on cars for a living. One is a mechanic, the other works in a body shop.... there was always talk about opening up a shop to do all of the above, considering couple of other people that we know worked at a car auction... seemed realistic.... however there are people that talk and people that do...
Never happened though... we were to young, time money and more importantly having a good time and enjoying life was what we were all about. I was in college enjoying my true passion... electronics. Always had a nag for that. I could figure out anything when it came to fixing things, trouble shooting...etc... Went to a tech school. I had a.d.d. and such... so going to a university was out of the question. it was do what i like and excel, or fail period.
College was a joke to me though. Spent 2.5 hours in theory and 2.5 hours in lab. Lab turned out to be a joke to me. my final assignment in my last class required; creating something, and making it work. We were all paired up in groups of two. Assignment was a two week deadline. My partner got lucky i guess, because I did all of the work. It was cake... Our two week project was done in 1 hour. 30 mins of going out to eat, grabbing a snack...(smokin... dont do it anymore just incase you wanted to know) 15 mins of planning, 10 mins of building it, and 5 mins of explaining to the teacher why I was confused why the class was so boring, while I wasted my time being here, why I could figure out something off of the top of my head, and how i could create something in 30 mins that required 20 hours... To put it short my last words to my teacher were simply put "give me the grade I deserve (sp?) Ill see you at graduation."
Guess all of the above is unimportant. Basically what i want to do is get back into detailing cars, not just for the money but because i like doing it. Wish i could have gotten the perfect job making lots of money living the american dream... but hey life is not that way for me. I currently work two jobs... with a near future promotion in hand im looking at leaving my 2nd job (installing car stereos, alarms and such) and looking to do it on the side. Installing and detailing cars... not just detailing cars, but bringing them to life.
I havent detailed alot of cars in my life.... i probably know half as much as the rest of the people on this forum. I dont know some of the slang terms used. I am very confused on the products out there. Most importantly.... I like the challenge. I didnt get my dream job. I have learned that money is not the most important thing in the world. Enjoying life is. If doing this on the side leads me to the pleasure of buying my own place... being able to get a motorcycle so I can ride again (hence the part of the time in enjoying my life in the first couple of paragraphs) and just living it up, looking forward to waking up everyday, and just caring about my customers, my cars, my family, being able to provide for them, having fun, learning, growing old by getting younger?? and just doing my thing... what i want... thats all i want.
I was sent to a class in my short detailing career. Was tought the proper way to use a rotary buffer, and how to make a 10 year old crappy black painted car (nissan sentra to be exact since i worked at a nissan dealership) look better than new. It was an unreal experience.... i learned alot, importantly i learned never to use a rotary polisher again! I bout an orbital buffer... not a pc, but a cheap genereic one (trashed little whiles afterwards) It was my way of detailing cars on the side, after i quit my job (due to management, pay, time...etc...) Didnt get much out of it, but the few cars i did were done absolutely perfect in my eyes. I wouldnt let someone see their car until it was perfect in my eyes... which is no where close to some of the work ive seen done on this site, but far better than a new car spoiled from a quick prep for pick up wash.
Tired of typing, but im just here to learn, have fun and thats it.
I dont know how i decided that this is what i want to do, but its all i can think about now.... It gives me goose bumps just thinking about picking up my pc again and going to work. Its almost like getting out of class to pick up my n64 controller to play golden eye.... or like christmas eve for a little kid. Im ready, willing to learn, and willing to try... to make money, to make people smile, but better yet enjoy the learning experience.
