■ Trucks for the Trade
Ready for work, Evans packs in only what he needs for that day’s jobs.
Ready for the weekend, the van can be used for all kinds of recreational activities.
Careful planning Continued from page 55 reasonable supply of backup material in the event that more is needed to compensate for unforeseen circumstances. Ideally all materials are delivered to site and installed immediately, not carried from place to place or left gathering dust. I remember finding an ancient waste and overflow tucked in one of those aforementioned cubbies and I bet it had as many miles under its belt as I did. I figure that if I go to a bathtub installation and don’t bring a W+O with me, I have to pay more attention to the “careful planning” portion of my day. Inevitably, there will come a time when all the planning and shelving in the world won’t prevent a trip to the supplier. At least now I don’t have to drag all those shelves and ever-present materials
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around while making the trip. An occasional visit at the wholesalers or hardware store is actually a welcome distraction to break up the day and remind us that there is a human element to the parts supply sector of our trade. My local counter people have saved my ass more than once and they rarely get acknowledged for all their hard work...Thank-you. However, as nice as it is to see them and my fellow tradesmen on occasion ...the more I run, the less I get done. It is my quest to strike the perfect balance between enough and too much on-board equipment – a mobile mechanical Utopia if you will. The late great comedian George Carlin wondered if we have so much stuff because we have a place to put it or ...do we need a big place because we have so much stuff. That is the eternal paradox of our profession. ✚
March 2012 – Plumbing & HVAC
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