Mike the Mechanic

My first boss was very Victorian in his employment practices. It was assholes and elbows at 8 am. It was the same at the end of the day. Last 15minutes you stopped and put your stuff away and grabbed a broom or mop. That being said everyone in my operation is on time or early.......that is our culture. I have 3 employees that have different starting times as the have family needs to get kids to school. That time is scheduled and they are reliably there when they say the will be. If someone is 2 hours late I am not worried about the $50 bucks he looses, I am cranked about the $400 lost opportunity. Most of my staff is flat rate and they are motivated and conscientious.

Coming into 2022 we were able to see the direction inflation was going. I scheduled quarterly labor rate increases of 2.5% this year. I also scheduled 10 1% increases for pay across the board for the staff. It was not a "pay raise". It was just trying to keep even with inflation. A cost of living adjustment. It was recognized and appreciated by the staff. The unfortunate part is that it probably is not enough. Our inflation is calculated differently that it was in 1979+. Currently energy and food increases are left out of the cost of living. How can you live without energy and food? I believe from my observation our actual inflation rate is 15%. The good news is the no one has complained about the rate increases and business seems to be holding up well. Our market is higher end Euro and Asian products. Regards to all Mike

Kimball Midwest has been excellent. We also us Wurth as an import shop they have Euro stuff. Mike

We just finished the shop floor. The surface was ground to remove the old surface. Tuff Top waterborne epoxy for the first coat. 2 coats Rust Oleum waterborne Catalyzed Urethane top coat. Its gasoline and brake fluid proof. It is very resistant to scratching and forklift traffic. Mike