Don’t Be A Bunghole, Please Be Kind.

Ineeda will tell you like it is! She ain’t taking any of your crap!

Over the past months as we have sat at home, lost work and been dealing with the world upside down, we have been going through a mental process. The same as the process of loss and grief. Here are the stages. ( It is important to note that we all don’t go through these stages at the same rate or sequence.)

1. Denial and isolation.

2. Anger.

3. Bargaining.

4. Depression.

5. Acceptance.

Parts for our boats are hard to find, and getting harder and harder to find.

I set this up because after speaking with many suppliers, restorers and fellow business folks, it’s getting nasty out there. Like I quit this business nasty. And if that happens, who will help us? WE ARE ALL! ALL! ALL! in this together. Yes, this boat together. There I said it. UGH..

It’s not like parts are being made at the factory. They are all over the place and sometimes an old part needs to be rebuilt or adapted.

Customers are being nasty and not respectful of how our suppliers are trying to also cope with all this crap. Our suppliers of stuff are 99% small businesses that are all linked together with people helping people, not heartless business’s helping Wall Street. Our business’s are struggling to keep up, find stuff and deal with delivery of stuff. Hell, even Amazon is taking more time to deal with stuff. It’s in all business. My neighbor is a partner in a pool company and they are triple the demand. TRIPLE! So guess what, people are pissed off.

We are so used to clicking and the next day some appears, or going to the local store and getting something off a shelf. That isn’t the way our passion works anymore. Part of the fun is finding the part. Enjoy that part.

Please, see the world through the eyes of your fellow man. Try and imagine how they are doing, you may be surprised how they are dealing with all this. In our community, we all want our boats done NOW, we all want to go out, we all want to go to boat shows and be around each other.

Way to go! The Antique Boat Museum is showing us all how it can be done. The museum despite all this crap, has really risen to the task, with charm, wit, and fun.

There will be events, but reimagined, we will wear masks, gloves and stay 6 ft apart. Keep the politics out of it. And know, we will get through this with kindness, respect and being open to each others lives. Now if you will excuse me, I need to go make a water pump out of tooth picks and rubber bands. Hey, don’t judge. They are vintage tooth picks!

17 replies
  1. Up North Marina
    Up North Marina says:

    Agreed Matt, these are more than ever getting to be trying times. The supply chain is stretched to the breaking point in all industries.
    With strong demand that everything be “normal” again, all the suppliers and manufacturers I know are trying to run 150% with 50% of the employees. Why? Deemed distancing requirements, separation rules and unemployment. Unemployment? Yes, because employers are having to compete with unemployment. A grand a week is a powerful motivator to just stay on the couch and not come back.
    So yes, let’s all take a deep breath (through a mask if you choose) and grow a pair. Be nice because we’re all trying to deal with it and it’s not getting better anytime soon.
    Can you say 8-10 year recovery?

  2. Jaxon
    Jaxon says:

    And don’t forget about the dog!! People leave stuff out by the drive for my human but there are never any treats for the 🐕. Went to town the other day for ice cream and they said that it was bad for dogs(they lied) lack of treats might make me lose weight. Remember the dog!!

  3. Matt
    Matt says:

    Our fellow pooches love whipped cream! The can kind. One dog pretends to be deaf, until that can is opened up, and all of a sudden her hearing is razor sharp!

    • Jim Staib
      Jim Staib says:

      I buy ice cream in the plastic tub. Jaxon can be sleeping. He could be outside. He could be sleeping outside. When I start to lift the lid he hears it and is on my feet before the lid is off.

  4. D. Thomas
    D. Thomas says:

    Matt, This is our new puppy, my wife made the comment when we were talking of getting him that if I went to get him I could name him! Guess what ? We have a new “Woody” in the house!
    He is waiting for his woody ride!

  5. Mark
    Mark says:

    We have one of those too. Sleeps 23.4 hours a day but spends the other 0.5 hours running a treadmill on your leg while you eat supper.

  6. Troy in ANE
    Troy in ANE says:

    Grocery stores and such were pretty well back to normal until all the “summer people” arrived. Now the shelves are bare again as they all load up for the summer in their first visit to the store.

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