True story!

 

Good luck bill. I've known 3 people that have worked for cat here and all said it was a good solid job.

 

My best wishes for you there, Bill.

 

It's good to see you pop in here, Bill. I like WV a lot, but I have to agree that the jobs market there isn't looking too good. So much of it is tied to coal, and coal is not in good favor right now. Hopefully the interview goes well and the job pans out to be a blessing. Cat is supposed to be a great company to work for. Is the dealership company owned or how does that work? Just curious if it's a franchise that is locally owned or if the benefits and such are determined by Cat at the corporate level. Either way, it sounds like work that will be right up your alley and hopefully it will be a good move for you.

 

Coal is not in good favor right now because the power companies don't spend the money to 'scrub' the emissions. To clean the emissions is money they don't want to spend. It can be done!

 

It was great to meet you this last weekend, Bill. I hope everything works for the best.

That is some gorgeous country down there for sure.

Did just over 1500 miles, and got 16 miles to the gallon, pulling a car trailer through the mountains. Didn't think that was too bad at all.

 

Good luck with the new gig Bill!

A fresh start will be good for you.... and a TRUE fresh start would mean selling off all those goodies you have hidden in your shop. lol

 

^^^ Who is this guy??

 

I think he's one of those guys that pops in, says a sentence, then disappears for another month. Edit. Hi Alex LOL

 

And he promises pictures and forgets to uploads them

 

Yeah, that's part of it but there is a lot being done in the way of regulations that is making it very difficult to do that "scrubbing" even if a plant wants to stay in operation. In our little town we have a local municipal power plant. My place of work is right across the street from it and we're their 3rd largest customer, so we have a very good working relationship with them. They're a coal-fired plant and they want to keep their doors open, but they are having a tough time getting it to work. They're looking at converting to natural gas and maybe having to buy some of their power off the grid simply because of the pressure that they're being put under by the EPA. It's a convoluted mess, for sure, but it's not as simple as them simply not wanting to pay to upgrade their "scrubbers". At least it's not that simple right here. I'm sure that's not necessarily the case for all plants everywhere.

 

lol awwww love you guys too!

Things have been a rather hectic transition with the job. Plus my weekends are booked from now until the first weekend in August! All fun stuff no doubt, but it makes it hard to find time for everything!

I doubt I'll get the fun mods installed on the truck before RRE but I am getting the necessary stuff done (like the brakes).
Speaking of which... front sway bar links need replaced because one broke.

The part store replacements don't fit due to the lift kit. I have been searching around, but I cannot find a replacement that looks like mine. I can't recall if the PO said it was tough country or rough country lift...

They measure 15" from the bolt hole to the ends of the threads. I will snag a pic when I am on lunch.

 

That is about the way it is Nate. It's not that the coal-fired plants don't want to comply. The problem is, the government has given the EPA so much power, and free rein to do what ever they want. They have just gotten so RADICAL with their regulations that it is impossible for the coal-fired plants to meet the EPA's standards, so they pay ridiculous fines daily, and where does that money come from......the consumer. They just keep increasing the consumer rates one increase right after another to the point where the average working guy can't afford his power bill. Which, the average working guy here is usually working in something that is coal related, so he probably doesn't even have a job now because so many of the coal-fired plants are trying to convert to gas to get away from the constant beating they are taking from the government and the EPA. Then, the other half of the problem is the coal operators themselves. When coal prices go up, the all jump in and mine like there is no tomorrow and flood the market. So then you get what you have now.....millions of tons of coal stock piled that they can't sell, because the prices have dropped so much, they can't sell it for what it cost to mine it. It is a vicious cycle that has gotten even worse in the last 7 years since the EPA has been given such a big stick to beat every body with. I have nothing against clean energy and or even alternative energy, but all the bleeding heart radicals in the EPA think they are gonna change the world over night themselves, when the truth is, even if they were successful in carrying out all of their far fetched plans of cleaning up this and cleaning up that, the percentage of positive effect that it would have on the world's emissions and climate problems....global warming, and all the rest of the BS that they have used as an excuse to stomp out millions of people's livings, would be so minimal, that our grand kid's great, great grand kids would be lucky to see a difference. I say that because there are so many other countries in this whole big old world that aren't doing any of this that America is doing to try to control emissions, so what we are doing is not even a drop in a bucket. I'm not saying that we shouldn't do anything, but these idiots in the EPA live in a fairy tale in their own over-payed minds.

That's just my opinion though.

 

..............you wish! All that stuff is going with me! The first thing I'm doing as soon as I secure me a piece of property is building a shop! LOL!!

 

Maybe you could make an exception, and sell one VISE to Todd