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bonehead

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Everything posted by bonehead

  1. Looking at gasoline prices and browsing through some old shop photos. This is me changing gas price sign when I was a kid. Better times, I think.
  2. I see that you don't have any replies. I'm not sure if this would help any, but I used to use Grip-Flex translucent paint, originally used to spray paint plastic sign faces. It had to be sprayed on, a brush coating would not look good. Also, it dried with a flat sheen. But, it was handy for getting some odd colors if you had to use this method. Seemed to adhere to the glass just fine, never chipped or peeled. Depth of color adjusted by number of coats applied. Might work for you, might not - good luck.
  3. Man, that was pure luck that it didn't do more damage. I would hope they were removing it for disposal. I have to figure it was improper rigging. I notice that both straps came loose at exactly the same time, which is kind of odd. If the guy who rigged it still has a job, hopefully he learned something from the experience. I have to imagine that incidents of this nature is why we all pay high insurance premiums.
  4. Yes, the one shown in the bottom image is from Light Efficient Design, and this is the one I have used the most of. I get them from 1000Bulbs.com, who by the way have excellent customer service, shipping and pricing. Bonehead
  5. I hope I'm not too late to be of some help. I have done many parking lot retrofits, and used lots of different style LED products. The one I find the easiest and most efficient is called a "Paddle Bulb"; I've attached an image. I've installed a few hundred of these, and they seem to hold up well - this has become my "Go To" product for all shoebox retrofits, but only for replacing up to 400 watt lamps. Most shoebox type fixtures use a horizontally installed lamp. A corn cob style will have LED's arrayed 360 degrees around the lamp, which means that quite a lot of the output is either reflected off the back, or straight out the sides - which amounts to considerable light loss. The paddle style lamp has all of the LED's arranged flat, on the projecting surface of the lamp - so, you are able to use 100% of the output. These just screw into the mogul lamp socket (after you have bypassed or removed the original ballast). Just do a google search for LED Paddle Bulbs. I hope this is of some help, and good luck. Bonehead
  6. Aside from the specific brand of truck you choose, the engine is an important consideration. Lots of medium duty chassis are available with various engine types. One to avoid for sure is a Mercedes engine; secondly Caterpillar quit making truck engines. Also on the Cats, it's nearly impossible to find information regarding how-to videos or diagrams for engine work. My best experiences are with the International DT 466 engines; also Cummins diesels. BTW, when I bought a brand new GMC with a Cat engine, the dealer is saying "This is a million-mile engine". Browsing through the owner's manual, I discover that the factory recommends and an in-frame overhaul at 188,000 miles. WTF? A sign guy shouldn't be expected to be a truck mechanic as well, but if you aren't somewhat knowledgable about your trucks you'll be at the mercy of the dealer's service department, and they have no mercy.
  7. I'm retired now, after 50 years in the business - 36 years running my own shop. Everyone is spot on about the problem of finding qualified help. Or even unqualified help for that matter. There isn't room enough here to write all of my thoughts on all of the problems in this industry, so I'll just pass on a recent observation. I happened to see a help wanted ad from a sign company, something like this: "XYZ is the premiere leader in the Kansas City sign industry, and we're looking for partners to grow with us" Candidates must be a team player in a fast-paced corporate environment. Should have a degree in rocket science, be able to lift 80 pounds, be proficient in Corel, Adobe, Word, CAD, vinyl and wrap installation, knowledge of neon and high voltage wiring, welding, (Stick, Tig & Mig,), layout and design skills, have a CDL license, be able to back up a 30 ft. trailer, operate a crane, know about fluorescent and LED lighting, not be afraid to dig foundations in 90 degree heat or work over 100 ft. in the air, , experience with every kind of hand and electrical tools, excellent customer communication skills, and able to leap over tall buildings with a single bound. Starting pay $14.00 per hour. Funny. Good luck to you all.
  8. I was with Nationwide for many years, but at renewal time they got a brand new underwriter. I wasn't supposed to see the emails from her to my agent, but he forwarded them to me, possibly by mistake. The new underwriter told my agent that it was very suspicious that I had full coverage on all my trucks, since my financial statement indicated that they were fully depreciated and thus had no value. I found it difficult to believe that an adult in the business world had no clue what depreciation is. After I got done laughing, I found another insurance company, which worked out well for me since they were quite a bit less money. Every time I hear the commercial "Nationwide Is On Your Side", I still get a chuckle
  9. Eddie, I have a question. You say that a new cabinet would better meet today's codes. Would you mind expanding on why? I was of the opinion that these signs were pretty well made, and produced to meet codes in any jurisdiction, since they were shipped to almost everywhere. Specifically what codes have changed that would make these signs non-compliant? Thanks
  10. This looks like a retainer off of a Phillips 66 sign. I don't have any of those signs left in the boneyard, but I'll bet if you could find out who was making the 66 signs, they could give you a good clue. Good luck with it.
  11. So, Travis - - - any luck yet? Can you give us an update?
  12. Whether or not the IRS seized his assets should not negate his debt to you. A lot depends on the contract wording, such as what remedies will be available in case of a default. Usually the original contract should specify what will happen if you don't get paid. If he's a corporation he might be able to hide his personal assets. I really hope you can get paid. Good luck and keep us informed if you can ...............
  13. Gary, thanks for the response. I did ask some of the local suppliers about the value of the old glass, but they couldn't give me any idea. They did put me in touch with a large shop in Florida - they are offering a pretty nice premium over the price of new glass, and they want all of it. As far as the equipment itself, I'm working with a local guy who wants to buy the whole plant, so I'm pretty sure it's sold now.
  14. Thanks Gary. I think that's a good idea. Appreciate the input. Do you think you could give me an idea of what value to put on - say, a full carton of 15 mm x 6500 white - (new, old stock)?
  15. Hi all. I'm getting ready to sell my neon equipment, and a local bender wants to make me an offer on all of my old glass. This is all the older leaded type glass, and I have about fifty cases of mixed colors and sizes plus a couple of cases of mixed exotic colors, some 5' tubes, mostly 4 ft. Can anyone give me an idea of what this might be worth? This is probably a tough question sight-unseen, but any advice would help. I had been told there might be some value in this glass since it's leaded. Thanks in advance - Mike
  16. Travis asked about warming up the hydraulics. I bought a 12 volt electric car seat warmer and wrapped it in a plastic trash bag; zip-tied it around the hydraulic pump and reservoir. Got an SJO cord wired straight onto to the truck battery, runs up to the warmer. Plug it in before we move the trucks outside and unplug it at the end of the day. Looks silly as hell, but it seems to help quite a bit.
  17. Travis asked about warming up the hydraulics. I bought a 12 volt electric car seat warmer and wrapped it in a plastic trash bag; zip-tied it around the hydraulic pump and reservoir. Got an SJO cord wired straight onto to the truck battery, runs up to the warmer. Plug it in before we move the trucks outside and unplug it at the end of the day. Looks silly as hell, but it seems to help quite a bit.
  18. You guys in the warm climates don't know what you're missing.
  19. Brian. I feel your pain - but you get no sympathy from Kansas City. I'm wearing so many layers I can hardly move around. Cool thing, though - I bought a 12 volt heat blanket that I put around the hydraulic cylinder on the ladder truck. Keeps the fluid warm. And, sometimes I wrap it around me.
  20. Just recalling a story from not-too-long-ago: Our shop used to be pretty competetive, and we would (passively) try to keep up on what our competition was doing. On one occasion, one of my install crews returned from a job and reported that they had seen XYZ sign company installing a channel letter sign. My guys said they watched XYZ for almost an hour, and that during that hour they (XYZ) only got two small channel letters installed on a masonry wall. I didn't want to be mean about it, but I had to ask: during that same hour, which crew got the most work done? After a little introspective head scratching, I got no reply to my question but everybody got back to work. Wishing you all a Merry Christmas from Kansas City.
  21. This looks like something I used to do for fun. I was trying to make a clear argon/mercury tube 'sparkle and zap' just like this - I took a tiny pinch of some very fine aluminum filings and dropped them in the tube before pumping. While pumping it looked absolutely crazy. After pumping, it looked just like this. Burned really hot for a while, eventually sputtered and burned completely out. Based on that little experiment, I would speculate - just like the others above - some sort of contamination. But my guess would be something with a metallic content - possibly some very fine airborne metal particles? Good luck with it, and best regards. Mike
  22. I was just going through some of my old paperwork. I'm getting ready to retire, and disposing of a lot of old stuff. I happened to find this old letter; I used to install a lot of Allstate signs, and we usually sent a detailed report after the job was complete. Here's the text, you might enjoy this: Dear Turner. Regarding this service call, we actually did get to the location the very next day after the order. Prompt and professional service - that's the way we roll. There was one minor incident; actually so piddley that I didn't think of it till just now. So anyways, this office building is located on a very steep hill. The parking lot, also on a steep hill, is behind the building. In order to keep out of the closer parking spots, we parked on the outer row of parking spaces, about a hundred feet from the building. Our service crew gathered the tools and were walking up to the office when they heard the ladder truck moving. It seems the truck had popped out of gear, (the emergency brake has never worked) and was rolling down the hill towards the agent's office, picking up speed as it went. A car was just entering the parking lot, driven by a dumb-ass old lady who wasn't paying the least bit of attention to what was coming. We had hoped that the car would stop the truck before it hit the building, but it was one of those ugly-assed 'Smart" cars. So much for 'Smart'; it couldn't even stop a runaway ladder truck. I"ll never buy one of those, they crunch up like an aluminum beer can.. Anyway, the truck proceeded toward the building with the smart car crumpled into the front grill like a big shiny bug. When it went through the rear brick wall of the building, the look on the agent's face was, like, WTF? Kind of funny, actually. I get the impression that he was somewhat slow-witted, as he made absolutely no effort to get out of the way. Not our fault. Anyhow the truck went all the way through the building, with the Smart car, the old lady, the agent, bricks, and a bunch of office furniture coming out the other side. This is where it gets interesting. This building was apparently not built to code, because it sits right smack up against North Oak street . I mean, it's not six feet away from the street!!. The actual street level is about eight feet below the building grade, and they put a retaining wall there to hold the building up. On top of that, they had the lack of foresight to put a bus stop right exactly there, under the weak-assed retaining wall. So, as the truck exited the other side of the building, the retaining wall collapsed into the street, and the bus stop. Naturally, there had to be a bunch of retards standing there waiting for a bus. Too bad, that's what you get for using public transportation. So, some weenie makes a big deal out if it, and calls the fire department, who immediately show up and proceed to stand around and wonder what to do. We tried to help the poor dimwits, by driving our truck out of the way. It's a wonder it would still run, but it did. The people under the truck were squealing like a truck load of pigs, but as I said earlier, that's not really our concern. We didn't put 'em under the truck, and after all we were trying to help the fire department by getting out of the way. Anyhow, the service call wound up being not necessary after all. The sign is now in a landfill, and it may be some time before they're ready for a new sign. As a matter of fact, if they don't find a new agent, they may not even need a sign at this location. However, I do have to bill you for a service call - but I'll make sure it doesn't exceed our minimum charge. By the way, please make note of our new billing address. We had to move rather abruptly, and we found a really nice little shop in Canada . If you have any work around that area, please send it our way. As always, we will give it our trademark prompt and professional attention. PS, please don't give out our new address, at least for the next six years. Something to do with a statute of limitations, I believe. See ya, Mike Welch
  23. As Mad Scientist pointed out, the leftover piece will be less than 48". I think it depends on your original pricing. Did you charge for the whole sheet that you had to buy, or did you figure on selling the remaining plastic on another job? Were you profitable on the sale at the first price, or were you marginal? It's funny, you and I would give away something at no charge - it's just being nice, and human, and sociable, and so on. But if the bank called and wanted their payment, do you think they would accept 8% less, and just say 'Well, that's okay'? I have yet to see the electric company give me one single kilowatt at no charge. At the grocery store last week, my bill was $15.03. I had a ten and a five and some ones, and I asked the checker if she would let me go for the 3 cents. "I'm sorry, but I can't come up short in my register". So at the end of the day, who has all the money? The banks, the utilities, the big corporations. Who has to watch their pennies to make sure the bills can be paid at the end of the month? You and me - the guys who would happily give away something at absolutely no extra charge. And sometimes at no charge at all.
  24. It was presented to me this way: If you keep on doin' what you've been doin', you'll keep on gettin' what you been gettin'. I don't mean that in a smart-alec way, either. Both posts above are pretty much on the mark. If you keep on torturing yourself for the sake of your employees, what's in the future for you? I hope you get this noodled out. Good luck.
  25. I can't help noticing that in the 'member profile' area of this website, there is a place for 'gender', but there are only two choices. I wonder if that description should be expanded into several more check boxes - or maybe instead of gender, how about 'Identifies with' (write in sexual identity here). Isn't it odd that some of the girls want to go to the men's room and some of the men want to go to the girl's room and the Government wants this to be okay with everybody - BUT, if you get caught peeing out behind a bush somewhere, you will be arrested and charged with all kinds of perversions, and probably get yourself on the sex offender list?
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