Sometimes in life you are given the opportunity to learn and expand yourself beyond what you have imagined. In March of 2009 I was riding high, at the top of my game as it were. I had had my business named on of the top ten auto detailers in the US by many of my peers. I had people calling me for advice, ideas and business opportunities here in the US and abroad.
By July 2007 I had moved over to "by referral only". By that I mean unless I had spoken to you, or a current client had referred you, i would not take you on as a client. This was not done out of snobbery, but out of simple need. I as an owner operator could not be everywhere at once. I chose to take care of the clients who made me a success as opposed to taking on endless new clients. So imagine my surprise when the Auto Week article came out naming me. I received many new client requests. Each was politely declined except for one.
It was a very sunny march day at around 1:30 pm when I received a phone call from an obviously elderly gentleman. We chatted back and forth for about 20 min with me repeatedly explaining why I would not take on another client with out a referral. "He said, 'Son, i respect that, you need to come out and see me. If it don't work out then, well we both have lost nothing." I acquiesced, made an appointment. Hung up. I remember telling my wife about this guy who would not take no for an answer. She laughed as I am typically the winner in such bull headed displays.
I went out and met the guy, he told me what he wanted, I told him what i do. He told me what he wanted me to do, when to do it, and how. Right now you are thinking, heh, what a jerk. Well you would be wrong. Some folks, very rare and special people lead by example. Not by force of personality, but by polite example. They guide you by providence and experience.
Over the next 2 years I worked for him, doing an ever ranging set of cars, trucks, heavy equipment, anything and everything under the sun. When ever i felt it was appropriate i would ask him about his business, and business choices, experiences, and reasoning's behind decisions he made. We Horse traded for this and that over those two years. I had grown to respect the man so much, he was the first client i told when we had made the decision to move here to CT. He was also the last client i worked for.
As a gift, he gave me an older pistol that was too heavy for him to hold with his Parkinson's. It's nothing fancy, nothing terribly collectible or expensive. To me however it is the embodiment of lessons well learned.
My Colt Trooper MKIII
As you can see in the first four images. It was used little but carried often. It had holster wear on nearly every leading and trailing edge. Thankfully it was not pitted or dinged. This fith photo shows that it was not clean nor had it been cleaned in years. Again, by some odd chance the barrel was not damaged or pitted once it was clean.
After our move to CT I drove it up to Colt to have it's timing checked, reblued in royal blue, and any grit taken out of the trigger. The Royal blue is a 6 month wait. Yeah 6 months. Yesterday the 15th of november I received a call telling me my Pistol was ready.
I will replace the grips, but other than that, the pistol is finished. It is a fitting memory to me of the Friendship I have with my mentor.