83 - Mackay NQ

Well we are four weeks into this current "tour of duty". Have a look at the property.

A busy property, mainly during the week, with all the corporate and working guests.
Weekends much quieter, as per normal for any motel, but as usual, one is on guard as the clientele can degenerate big time, not in volume so much, but attitude.

Anyway, I will leave that alone....and being a Friday arvo just gearing up for the weekend.

As I have said earlier as we are not traveling, not much to report, but I will touch basis about the Val and the RetroLiner.

Firstly the RetroLiner. Nothing has happened. No repairs, no news, no nothing!!!! But we knew the repair man was not able to go near the RetroLiner for at least a month, and guess what the month is up today. Will make a call on Monday!

Now the news on the Val.

I put the Val in for an investigation to see why the brakes are so hard to put on. To mine it seemed a booster problem. Of course I advised the repair people, to check out a few other issues, with the intention of having the Val back to its usual self within a week or two.

Well four weeks later and I have removed the vehicle from the repairer before it was to late!!!!!!

The brakes never got repaired at all, nor did the other issues that it was sent in to get looked at. After four weeks all that was done was my seat was repaired, timing re-adjusted, and a new part put on the starter motor. The rest of the time I was being told about what a heap of shit it was, and it is going to cost gazzillions to get fixed, right from a new head to a complete engine system.....GET A LIFE.

To add to this because they had sooooooooo much work, they didn't have the time to spend on my unit anyway. They should have told me in the first place, that they couldn't find the time to work on it. I could have made other arrangements.

Three hundred and forty feeeeeerk'n dollars later, and four weeks wasted time, the Val is now back at the motel, looking quite sad. I have booked the Val into another guy, who seems to be more genuine. I know his business and has been around for a zillion years. This business was actually trading during my time here in Mackay 82 - 94. Have since found out the shop has been trading from the same address for the last fifty years. The owner (now) is the son of the original owner. Now that's got to be a bit of assurity.

Once I advised him of the drama I have just had, his reply, "I have heard it all before" Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm

So one would like to think some progress will now be forth coming with the Val, over the next couple of weeks. Hope so, because before we know it, it will be Xmas and all these places will be shutting down for the Christmas break, and we at this stage are hear only till 11th January.

See this is what I have found. Every bugger who wants to make a quid, just shuts up shop and heads to the mines. Joe blogs can get a $100000 a year driving a truck. So what remains is local businesses stretched to the limit and really it seems no one can handle the demand.

Pity, cause as I said before, Mackay the once neato, friendly, tropical north Queensland sugar town, is now the industrial hub for the Bowen Basin for coal production.

When we were here, everybody would talk to you, and they were friendly, and even when we arrived '82, we were southerners. Geeeeeeezus no one is local that I can see anymore, and that friendly warm fuzzy feeling the town had, is gooooooooooon for ever.

Sorry folks just having another whinge. Maybe I can't handle progress.

Stay tooned!!!!!!!!!