Miles Schmidt (u/miles_schmidt)

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Just hit 10,000 brake jobs in my career

I was cleaning out my old toolbox and found a notebook where I'd been making tally marks for every brake job since my apprenticeship. Counted them up and it came to 10,003. That's a lot of rotors and calipers. It hit me that I've probably spent over two full years of my life just doing brakes. The weird part is, I still get a customer at least once a month who insists their new pads are squealing because I did something wrong, not because they need to be bedded in. Anyone else have a number that made you stop and think about how much of this trade is pure repetition?

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c/cabinetmakers•

miles_schmidt•1d ago

PSA: A talk with my insurance agent changed how I see my shop's dust

I was renewing my policy last week and mentioned I keep my cyclone collector clean. He said, 'That's good, but the fine stuff you can't see is what can really go up.' He told me about a claim he handled where a shop's air filter was clogged and a spark from a sander set it off. Now I'm looking at adding an air scrubber, something I always thought was extra. Has anyone put one in a smaller shop, like under 800 square feet?

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c/email-template-swap•

miles_schmidt•2d ago

Vent: I had to pick between a long, fancy email or a short, direct one for a big pitch.

Last week, I was trying to land a listing for a house in the $750k range, and I spent two hours on a super detailed email. My partner saw it and said it looked like a robot wrote it. So I tried a new way, just three sentences saying I saw the house, I know the area, and I'd like to talk. I sent the short one. The owner called me back in 20 minutes, which never happens for me. Has anyone else had a client actually like the super short pitch better?

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Posts

Just hit 10,000 brake jobs in my career

PSA: A talk with my insurance agent changed how I see my shop's dust

Vent: I had to pick between a long, fancy email or a short, direct one for a big pitch.

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