Truisms

[Richard]

In all the banter I've ever read about the joys of ownership never have I seen these:

Owning is the opportunity to trade hard earned money for hard won knowledge.

To own is to go to school. You're gonna' learn alot. Boy, will you!

An owner must be part master salesman. How else to persuade mechanics, avionics technicians, part vendors, etc that is in their interest they leave their BBQ, get out of their warm beds, or meet you first thing tomorrow to trade your money for their knowledge?

Did you know if you so much as transpose or delete just one number on an 8 digit part number you may have just ordered a cargo door for a 747? Never mind the number may be slightly unreadable.

 

[SCCutler]

Did you know if you so much as transpose or delete just one number on an 8 digit part number you may have just ordered a cargo door for a 747? Never mind the number may be slightly unreadable.

Off-topic, but when I was in the field carrying a toolbag fixing microfilm machines for Bell & Howell, I once accidently messed up a digit on a part number while making a routine parts order. I don't even recall what it was I was supposed to get (probably a belt or a gear or a spring, something like that), but what I got was a big, honkin' machined and anodized cast aluminum camera case with drilled and tapped screw holes, etc.

When we sent it back to Chicago, they tried to say we could not because it was a non-stock item and they had specially manufactured it for us. It was something like $7,000 in 1983 dollars.

You'd think they might have at least *considered* asking if we really needed a high-dollar, non-wearout, non-stock part like that before they hired it fabricated. We did not even have any of those cameras in our area!

No longer a problem after computerized ordering and part numbers with checksums came around.