Every business you deal with is free to screw up, but you have to pay. I always chose an independent auto shop based on the theory of they had the most to lose if they weren’t honest and good at their job. I spent $700 plus getting the air conditioner running on a minivan. What they didn’t do was replace about five $5 dollar connectors that took the cold back to the back. So for the price of five connectors, I put $700 down a rat hole. Thank you Denny’s.

The same shop couldn’t find the cause of the overheating. When they finally checked the thermostat and found it bad, “Oh I thought we had checked that!” Everybody is allowed to screw up, but you pay. I had Ben Franklin plumbing out to fix a drainpipe leak. Did they start to tear into the wall at the point of the water? No! They went to the point furthest from the leak on the theory “it was draining there”. A couple of hundred extra dollars to the $609 bill because they’re idiots.

A different auto shop. They put in $1,500 in suspension and steering, take it to the outside shop for alignment, and they find the bad ball joint (the ball joint being the most critical component to actually keeping the wheel on the car). And screwups always take me back to the government. I read a financial analyst the other day who thinks we’ll spend the latter part of the 2020s going through a “global bankruptcy”. That makes sense from the 2024 or 2026 timeframe when Medicare cashflow goes negative and national debt will be pushing $30 trillion. The government creates this financial Armaggedon, but guess who will pay? You.

The train keeps steaming full speed ahead. Everybody knows the tracks are out, but they just keep the hand on the throttle.