Check out the cool birthday gift I got from my wife and kids:

 

Happy Birthday. Great sign/gift.

 

Really cool! You must have a great family!

 

Happy Birthday,Wally, those are some real 1950's Labor Rates! May I drop my truck off for service in the Spring,and pick it back up in the Fall,on my way home from Geneva-On-The-Lake?

I like that sign,where did your family get it at?

 

Yeah the rates are a little low, but still funny. Here is where they got it. Personalized Signs Signs For Sale - Garage Art

 

You know,they are low, but not 1950's low.I actually have a 1960 Motors Flat Rate Manual.It used the going rates of 6.00 per hour for autos,8.00 for trucks.

I bought it because the shop I was occasionally using at the time, had a service manager who would just shoot prices off the top of his head.They were "Guesstimates",and were never in my favor,always high.

Well,I won an Ebay auction for the correct flat manual.Next visit,after he arbitrarily gave me another high estimate,I asked if he got the price from a flat-rate manual. He laughed at me,saying " NOBODY has books going back THAT far". "Well,would you give me the flat-rate price,if you did know it?Cause your prices seem high for working on old-tech vehicles" says I. "Of course" says he,"but I'm sure I'm right in the ballpark."

Out to my truck I went, and returned manual-in-hand,proceeding to show him,that for this and the previous two jobs,he was about 30% higher than he ought to have been.His jaw dropped,but I got the lower price.I rubbed a little salt in the already painful wound when I told him his "techs" should easily beat the flat-rate time and still make plenty of money.After all,those early 60's grease-monkeys were probably still turning actual wrenches,not using impact guns or air ratchets.

 

Cool story! Service managers are so used to being right!