Ain't Over Until It's Over

A customer called me yesterday and said all he needed was a simple repair, no reason I couldn't do it right away. "It'll be an in and out job, Cosgriff," he assured me.

I laughed out loud when he said it. It was a scoffing laughter too, I'll admit, although in retrospect I do feel bad about that. But something I've learned over the 48 years I've messed around with drain snake repairs: ain't no job easy until it's done. Then it was easy. Jobs are only easy in the past tense.

Perhaps you've seen the meme (you know, the meme, as though it's the only one on the Internet) which says, 'You're only one broken bolt away from a 20 minute repair becoming a three day ordeal'. How. True.

Machines have routinely come to me with issues which would ordinarily take ten minutes and cost $25, part and labor. Yet similar repairs become $125 (or even more) and not ready for a week because old parts won't cooperate as they should. I may end up replacing two or maybe three other items which normally wouldn't even be a worry. But that given day with that given machine, and you're in a fresh new hell.

I advised the caller to bring his machine in tomorrow (which would be today of course). I had too much to do today (which would be yesterday as of now) which had to get done before I could look at his unit. Maybe it will be easy peasy lemon squeezy. I hope so. But I won't know until it's done and I'm paid. It's as simple as that.