Chuck Most

Piece of advice... don't ever do it! It isn't terrible 100%, but working in retail made me really long for the burger flipping/paper-hat-wearing days of my earlier jobs.

Man, that is pretty sick, twisted, and diabolical. I like it.

Wait... never mind. That one had the NCC prefix as well. The ISS was in place of the USS. Really off my game today...

That can bite you in some situations, though. Sometimes a customer will see your genuine attempt to be courteous as sarcasm or being condescending. Again, that's one of those instances where you have to try to read the person and react accordingly.

Very nice! Glad I could help you out in some small way with the project.

I don't really have a least favorite Enterprise. Now, some of the other ships I don't really 'do it' for me, aesthetically. The Grissom from Wrath of Khan is one- it just looks weird to me. The Excelsior was the same way, but I liked it after a while. Come to think of it, same holds true for the Enterprise D (as a kid the defelctor dish reminded me of a belly button), but agian, I learned to like it over time. So I guess, at one time the D was the only one I didn't like, but that doesn't apply today. Favorite? I'd have to go with the 1701, no letter after the number ... but with the ISS prefix instead of the NCC.

Ever see those signs that read "If you are grouchy, irratable, or just plain mean, there will be a $10 charge for putting up with you"? Many of the local auto repair shops have that sign over the front desk... and more than a few of the shop owners I've spoken with have told me they've enforced it.

One other thing- that old saw "The customer is always right"? In many instances, nothing could be further from the truth! I know, being a customer of many establishements myself, that I have been wrong on more occasions than I care to recall. So have you. So has E-V-E-R-Y-O-N-E. After having worked 13 years in the retail environment (roughly half of that in the auto parts business), I've seen every type of customer. The guy who gets irate because you don't stock glow plugs for a 1985 Escort diesel (or some other obsure part for some other obscure vehicle), the guy who wants to buy brake rotors from you- but wants you to price match units from the shop across town even though their rotors have a 90 day warranty and yours have a two-year warranty, and my favortite... the guy who does not come in himself, but sends his wife/girlfriend/kid/drinking buddy to the store to get the parts, gives that person only the basic information, then gets huffy and puffy when the parts his gopher came back with don't fit his application. Often, a customer will ask if you will install the part they just bought for them. Now, laws and store policies vary, but where I've worked, doing so without being a licenced mechanic is illegal, and can cost you your job. I can't tell you how many customers got angry when I refused to install anything other than a battery or wiper blades (the two items we were allowed to install on customer vehicles- and restirictions applied even there). No, sir, I am not going to install that fan clutch in your Trailblazer for you. Seriously. Do you get mad at the grocery store cashier when they refuse to cook the hamburger meat you just bought? To me it's akin to that. And of course, there are some customers who have this really overinflated sense of self-importance. At my preivious job, we had a shop owner who was angry because he did not quailfy for our top-line commercial discount, which is based upon how much you buy. I tried explaining this to him, and his response was 'I buy from you all the time!'. After I got off the phone with him, I went and checked his account's history- he had purchased a grand total of $87 worth of merchandise from us over the most recent three-month period. There were five or six shops in the area who would spend three times that amount with us every hour. $87 is $87, but somehow, I guess this guy thought his $87 was more valuable than the next guy's $87. But it really isn't awful. I actually did develop a pretty good rapport with a few customers nobody else wanted to deal with. Other guys would duck and cover when these guys walked in the door, but I never had any issues in dealing with them. Getting a feel for people and what they want is important. There was one guy I dealt with who was old-school- he wanted his parts looked up in the paper catalogs, not the computer systems. His theory was the computer was always wrong (even though our computerized catalog system was copied verbatim from the paper catalogs, so if it was wrong in the catalog, it was more than likely wrong in the system... go figure), so whenever he walked in, I was at the ready standing near the catalog rack! Customers like that are in the minority, though, and even the most pleasant people can have their bad days. I won't even get into the customers I actually looked forward to seeing.

It's the AMT kit with the shuttlecraft. The box art refers to Star Trek V, which IIRC was the first movie where the A was used (except for the last few seconds of IV). Yes, I know, some Trekkie I am, and I'm too lazy to Google it.

From now on, I am never, ever putting an alternator bracket on a model ever again. And if the kit comes with one, I'm tossing it over my shoulder. Just for Harry... :P

Jacobus- that resin kit is a Brigadier. Totally different animal from a Top Kick.

I usually go with a recent reissue if possible... not gonna spend two bills on, say, an original issue AMT '66 Mustang when I can get a reissue for ten bucks. Now, if the subject is a kit that was only reissued once, or never at all, obviously I'll go the other route. They're kits- they're meant to be built no matter what 'vintage' they are.

This is how it looked 5 years ago, right after the windshield was shattered (long story). More of the original paint is visible now.

And... replicate Hamster and Jeremy's less-than-subtle sabotage of the air conditioning controls in May's Caddy.

Nice!

Bananas, I tell you!

New tires on a recently aquired project? Love the way it looks. The weathering is great, and the way it is photographed makes it look real, like an photo you'd see of a real one for sale on Craigslist or in an Auto Swapper.

The star means you have posted in that thread.

Do a Google image search for 'KDF Mangler' and you'll get an idea of what's in store for it.

I like it. I'd much rather see more built in this style than yet another black/red one with a (yawn...) Small Block Chevy.

Is this that movie with Justin Timberlake? If so, THAT is the reason I did not go out to see it. That, and the plot sounded completely idiotic. And now there's Hunger Games... really scraping bottom for movie plots these days, aren't we? But... might just have to check it out simply for those Lincoln Continentals!

Love that Merc! Not a huge fan of Novas, but I really like the color combo on yours.

I'm working on a 1701 A, absolutely no idea when it/if I will ever finish it. Or I might build it as the Yorktown, since according to the (non-official) history described on the AMT/Ertl instruction sheet, that's what the A originally was.

Oh... Tim, not Tom. Unless two guys with the same last name did the Scale Firehouse column in SAE.

Might be just the excuse I need to pick up that new Meng 1:35 Toyota Technical kit I've had my eye on...