Mark's Off Road Warehouse Fire Thread

[65swb45]

So did Mark give out the new cell phone number? How do we get a hold of you??

That’s a good question. The old land line number is supposed to work on the cellphone, and it did…for the first day. Now it only wants to call out, not receive. I called a few people yesterday and their caller ID said Mark’s Off Road.

My wife and the phone company are trying to figure out what is not working.

(Edit: phone is now working )

Thanks for asking.

 

[Ditcherman]

Normally I like to wait a few weeks between posts, but yesterday I took a begrudging but potentially huge step forward for Mark’s Off Road. My wife handles most of the administrative side of the business, including the phone and internet connectivity.

I have mentioned earlier in the thread that I have been without a phone in the shop for over a year (since sometime before I finished painting the building) and the phone company promised us a new wireless system that kept us from investing in any equipment. Well, we finally got the new system, only to find out that it won’t support a land line!

As it so happens, when we upgraded our phones last year before my backpacking trip, we ended up with an extra cellphone (family plan) that has sat in a drawer unused for a year. Voila! Problem solved, maybe.

Mark’s Off Road now has a cellphone instead of a landline. I will be capable of receiving and sending calls from many more places than before. On the days when I am home working on construction projects, I will now potentially be able to conduct business as well.

What remains to be seen is if I will have to create something like a ‘known callers only’ log to keep from being inundated with texts. There are a few unknown variables, some of which concern me. But I have not forgotten @ceylonfj40nut challenge to try a little harder to keep up with the times.

Brave new world.

I beleive “keeping up with the times” means keeping in mind it’s your phone, your time management, and people need to understand that you’ll get back with them when you get back with them. I think that’s your true spirit, you do your thing and if that means helping a customer in the moment then so be it but it also might mean you’ll get back with them when you’re not elbows deep in a project or next week or whenever. That’s what voicemail and the extension of that, texting, are for.

I’m working on lowering others’ expectations, join me.
Older people tend to feel more obligated to answer/respond immediately. The younger generation may be on to something when they don’t answer immediately.

 

[1911]

The younger generation may be on to something when they don’t answer immediately.

Having a narcissist for an ex-daughter-in-law has taught me the wisdom of this.

 

[75whitewater55]

That’s a good question. The old land line is supposed to work on the cellphone, and it did…for the first day. Now it only wants to call out, not receive. I called a few people yesterday and their caller ID said Mark’s Off Road.

My wife and the phone company are trying to figure out what is not working.

In the meantime, you can try the ‘other’ cellphone number, the one it came with: 818-823-1323.

Thanks for asking.

That’s a good question. The old land line is supposed to work on the cellphone, and it did…for the first day. Now it only wants to call out, not receive. I called a few people yesterday and their caller ID said Mark’s Off Road.

My wife and the phone company are trying to figure out what is not working.

In the meantime, you can try the ‘other’ cellphone number, the one it came with: 818-823-1323.

Thanks for asking.

Hi Mark,
This is Chas, I sent you the carburetor from my 85 FJ60 earlier this week and I received your voicemail from yesterday. Sorry I missed your call, my family and I were driving home from Kings Canyon NP. Anyways, feel free to message me here or we can try to connect next week via phone call. Thanks!!!

 

[65swb45]

I beleive “keeping up with the times” means keeping in mind it’s your phone, your time management, and people need to understand that you’ll get back with them when you get back with them. I think that’s your true spirit, you do your thing and if that means helping a customer in the moment then so be it but it also might mean you’ll get back with them when you’re not elbows deep in a project or next week or whenever. That’s what voicemail and the extension of that, texting, are for.

I’m working on lowering others’ expectations, join me.
Older people tend to feel more obligated to answer/respond immediately. The younger generation may be on to something when they don’t answer immediately.

Thank you for your thoughtful post.

I have a few dozen aphorisms I have made up over the years to help remind me of the things I think are important to remember. The one that comes to mind regarding my new cellphone adventure is this: the world that we were told we were born to be in is never the world that we end up with.

At the moment, the lack of customer ‘traffic’ reminds me of a country store that has been bypassed by a new highway. I am trying to decide what I am willing to do AT THIS STAGE OF MY LIFE to increase visibility/convenience. The cellphone seemed like it could be useful in that regard.

I am also very cognizant and mindful of what you are saying about setting boundaries. I often refer to this concept as ’terms of engagement’. And I have a lot of them. THAT is not going to change because of the cellphone.

There are about five dozen MUDers who have my private cellphone number. Each and every one of them has been instructed to NEVER contact me about business on that number. But if I absolutely HAVE to be gotten ahold of, any one of them could relay a message to me.

For the most part, they are very good about respecting my privacy. Interestingly enough, some of them are vendors, and some of them don’t seem to have the same boundaries. Everyone is different.

I have mentioned a few times over the last two decades being in a Walmart in Texas with Marlin in 2006 while we were attending the Lone Star Roundup. As we were walking the aisles, his cellphone rang and he took the call. It was a customer who needed technical assistance on an install, and he took several minutes to walk the guy through it. Afterwords, I remember telling him that I could not do that. Answering tech on the trail, or in camp is one thing. But there HAS to be limits.

Later that year, having recently met Dan Fredrickson of RuffStuff at the 45 run, and wanting to support his fledgling business, I called his shop number on a Sunday to leave a message regarding a prospective project. To my surprise, he answered. When I inquired if he was in the shop, working, he said no, he was laying on the couch in his living room at home watching TV!

I asked him why he would answer the phone on his private time, and he jokingly offered to hang up! In Dan’s case, it was a little easier to understand: he was ‘hungry’ to grow his brand new business, willing to do almost anything. And I can understand that. I was ‘there’ myself when I started out at 17, agreeing to build out a restaurant patio for $3/hr because of the exposure that boulevard job got me to several hundred patrons in the course of the build.

But It’s been a while since I’ve been ‘hungry’ like that. I’ve built a reputation over the last three and a half decades to where I don’t feel like I have to whore myself out at all hours of the day to stay afloat. So in general, people’s calls for ‘keeping up with the times’ aren’t going to change me much.

I think the concept of boundaries/terms of engagement could make for an interesting discussion in chat. But then again, I have over-estimated the crowd there before. Maybe you would consider starting a convo yourself.

 

[65swb45]

 

[peesalot]

Mark, is the location services on, now we can pin your location. & now you can get pics of what people are trying to describe. Hope all is well.