“Hey there, can you jump on a quick call with me in about 10 minutes?”
This was a direct message sent on Slack to me by my Director (my boss’s boss) a couple weeks ago at 9:13 a.m. on a Thursday shortly after starting my day at my corporate job. This immediately started my mind racing, because there would be only three reasons for a Director to reach out to a lowly Engineer Spec III such as myself:
1) An HR complaint
2) A drug test
3) A layoff
Pretty much this was a lose-lose-lose because any of the above three would be wicked bad (even if you’re not on drugs, if your employer thinks that you may be, that’s really not good)! The next 10 minutes are probably the longest of my entire life, until I nervously joined the conference video call with my Director, Mike.
A little background, I have been working at Verizon for the past 22 years, it’s the only job that I’ve ever had since I got out of college in ’03. I worked my way up the ladder over the past two decades, continuously attaining positions of greater responsibility and difficulty. CX/UX, Telephone Number Inventory, Supervisory roles leading various teams, Compliance, UAT testing, and finally ending up in Production Support over internal systems along with the .com site and Mobile App.
“Steve, it’s been a pleasure working with you all these years but your position has been terminated due to the company’s focus on an AI future. Thank you for your service, and if you don’t return your laptop you’ll be charged for it.”
22 years ended in about 22 seconds.
My grandfather worked for Verizon when it was called NY Telephone after he got back from Iwo Jima and Guadalcanal in ’45. Both he and his grandson worked for the same company. He got a gold watch when he retired. I got a mild threat to return a laptop.
I was 24 years old when I got that job and I was driving a five-speed, two-tone, ‘95 Sebring hardtop coupe when I applied for it. A total “straight outta college” ride. When the Verizon interviewer asked why they should hire me, I told her that I had built the car that I arrived in, out of a junkyard. I saw a look of surprise wash over her face back in ’04 that I’ll never forget. I was offered the job shortly after.
So, my life has been completely turned upside down in the past 30 days. Bills don’t stop though, and I currently have the same amount of cars that we showcased here, which is way too many for somebody who is currently unemployed.
You have to move, shake and adjust. This means you need to take a hard look at your current skill set and figure out how to make money, wicked fast! Many of my current collection of 13 cars are for sale, and I have been doing some mobile mechanic work to keep the lights on.
Let’s Wrench: Somebody Else’s Chevy
One of my best friends is a guy named Chuck, whom I have referenced over the years in a few articles, (such as what I believe to be the best piece that I’ve ever written here). Chuck owns and runs a paint shop, and has been a lifesaver to me for almost 20 years; he has painted numerous cars for me. The guy has big heart and is always paying it forward for others; he’s kinda awesome.
Anyway, upon hearing that I was down and out, Chuck wanted to help. He said that he had a customer’s car up at his shop that had lost brakes, and thus smashed into something, damaging its front end. He was putting a new front end on it, and asked the owner what he was going to do about the brakes, the owner said he planned on towing the car out of Chuck’s shop and figuring out the brakes later.
Chuck suggested that he had a buddy named Steve who was a pretty decent wrench who would slap some new brakes on it for a couple hundred bucks.
The customer agreed, and I was hired!
Ok, Now What’s Wrong With This Thing?
The next task was figuring out why this guy lost brakes and smashed into something. What he hit was never disclosed so that remains a mystery. Popping the hood I noticed that the master cylinder was completely dry, which was a huge clue. It pointed us towards the fact that the brake fluid had to go somewhere, meaning that there was a leak!
A quick peek underneath the truck fully solved the mystery of the missing brake fluid, as the right rear tire was completely soaked with brake fluid on the inside. This means either a line or the caliper was leaking. Both are pretty easy to fix!
I smiled at my good fortune, knowing that I didn’t have to reverse bleed an ABS block or deal with other, more difficult brake scenarios (ex: Google SBC brake issues on the Mercedes sl500/r230 as a great example of a gross overcomplication of the already-solved-problem of automotive brakes).
Time to grab a C-clamp and some wrenches; let’s go!
Dude, You OK Man?
Removing the tire, and squaring-up to the hub, I noticed the leak was coming from the piston boot. Popping a new caliper on this thing should be a wicked cake job I thought to myself, figuring I’d have this done shortly.
What I saw next was the absolute worst brake repair scenario in my 31 years of wrenching.
Pulling the caliper off of the caliper bracket, the caliper piston fell apart in pieces in my hand! There was no rear pad whatsoever, and the inboard side of the rotor was worn to the cooling fins!
This means that the owner of that truck went completely through the inner pad, through the steel pad backing plate, through the inboard face of the rotor, and through the rotor cooling fins until the caliper piston disintegrated!
[Ed Note: Holy crap! -DT].
I’m not sure if that charts up to willful neglect, a legendary level of laziness, or just a complete disregard for both one’s own safety and the safety of others.
In fact, the reason the truck was at Chuck’s body shop was due to it smashing into something from not having brakes after the brake fluid escaped from the blown caliper piston seal!
This is a perfect example of kicking your own ass, needlessly. None of these events had to occur.
Let’s Wrench: Cheapassery To One’s Own Detriment
The saying “pennywise and pound foolish” comes to mind for the next phase of this repair. Chuck called the owner and told him that he needed new pads, since one had completely turned to dust, and also a new rotor.
The owner, in his (continued) lack of wisdom, cheapassery and dumbassery, chose to spend $34 on new pads, but did not want to replace the rotor!
The cooling fins on a rotor are there for a reason; to cool the rotor and prevent it from warping. Not having those fins (along with necessary thickness) guarantees this rotor will be warped badly in short order. Also, the thickness of the rotor is important so that the piston on the caliper doesn’t become overextended and blow out its seal! Wicked dumb.
[Ed Note: Look below at how thin the back part of the rotor is inboard of the cooling fins. This rotor is TOAST! -DT].
I told the owner that without replacing the rotor, he’s just going to overextend the piston in the new caliper and then be forced to buy another caliper. More importantly, he would be placing himself and others in the same danger yet again that ended up with his truck smashing its front end off.
Those words of alarm and of concern fell on deaf ears as he told me to put it back together with the badly worn rotor, bled the line, and put the wheel back on.
A Feeling Of Uneasiness
The owner of the truck paid Chuck for the new front end, and I got $120 for the caliper/pad replacement job for labor.
There’s something that I’ve been focusing on lately which I found is very helpful towards my well-being on multiple levels: a focus on the things that I can control.
I can’t control the move towards AI replacing white collar human workers, and how my former employer chooses to reduce payroll costs in hopes of improving their financials and “increasing shareholder value”. I didn’t think my life would change so drastically in 22 seconds, yet that event was out of my control.
I also could not control the very dangerous decisions this truck owner was making, and he’s the one who’s going to have to live with the potential negative outcomes of his decisions. I did my part in advising him of the danger he’s placing himself and others in, and by doing the repair to the best of my ability.
I can control reducing my car collection, doing my best to write wicked-fun wrenching adventure/shitbox rescue stories here for this awesome website, and saving as many broken cars as I can from the crusher. That sounds like a great plan to me. Time shoots forward and all you can do is to try your absolute best at whatever you are doing.
And you can control the distance between you and the car in front of you, with a focus on defensive driving, as this article is yet another reminder that due to the shape of many of the cars on the road around you, doing so could possibly save your life.
It’s good to be in control. We got this.
Until next time, my Autopian friends.
88mph into the future.
More SWG below in “Related Stories“!
All photos by Stephen Walter Gossin
- I Took On A Bad GM Design In A Hail-Mary Attempt To Fix My Friends Broken Suburban But It Was Too Little Too Late
- Sparking Joy And Plugs: How To Repurpose A 31-Year-Old Junk Buick
- What I Learned Restoring A $600 Dodge Ram With A Burned Up Transmission And Ruined Interior
- How I Bought A Broken Version Of My Dream Car For $300, Then Nursed It Back To Glory And Let It Free
- Proof That A $700 Car Saved From The Junkyard Can Make Someone As Happy As A New Lambo Can
- How I Saved My Buddys’ SUV After It Died At The Most Embarrassing Possible Time
- Rescuing A 75-Year-Old Car From An Older Car Enthusiast Reminded Me How Important Every Minute We Get Doing This Truly Is
- How I Rescued A Long-Neglected Citroen 2CV Covered With Bullet Holes
- Kumho Flew Me To The Mojave To See If Their New ‘R/T’ Tires Are As Good As They Claim
- How Learning Saxophone in 1990 Led Me To Rescue A Dead Xterra From A Bouncer’s Driveway
- This Toyota Tundra Was Unstoppable, And Not In A Good Way
- How To Re-Owner And Re-Purpose A Sad 2007 Exploder In One Week
Wow, this was shocking…so sorry to hear about the layoff and how they treated you after being there for so long. I never thought this would happen, since you had been there all this time. Whoa, that is definitely the worst condition of brakes I’ve ever seen. So dangerous and ridiculous. Great article though!
I have watched a lot of ‘Just Rolled In’ / ‘Customer States’ videos on YouTube. This rotor is good compared to some of those examples.
Wow, that’s pretty bad that there’s worse, but it’s not that surprising. I’ve actually been shown clips of those videos but they were other parts of the vehicles. I’ve never watched any all the way through but may check them out again. There were certain clips that were kinda funny
There is always a car with the front rotor down to the cooling fins and rear rotors with the friction disc entirely separated from the hats.
I’ll remember this if I ever consider switching to Verizon.
There is always work for mechanics. Where I live, practically every shop would hire you in an instant. My mechanic, who does the jobs that I can not do myself, has a waiting list weeks long, as do all the good shops in town.
Hopefully you can land a position that pays at least as much as the corporate conglomerate did. Eff ’em, it’s their loss. And eff AI, too.
Verizon is making a mistake. Good luck finding your next gig. Does this mean more SWG content in the meantime?
Sorry about the layoff Stephen.
Seems like the only person with an obviously bright future in this article is Chuck, who knows he will have a repeat customer soon!
Dear, dear Gossin, you handsome devil, I offer you my most severe regrets for what has been done to you. I feel it is poetic how you combine the account of your own unjust corporate treatment with a story of a different yet related form of stupidity. Long may you write, and wrench.
I don’t know how someone could drive with whatever sound those made when he hit the brakes. My wife who knows nothing about cars, immediately informed me when they squealed even slightly.
Damn. Sorry to hear that you lost your career to a mind numbingly short sighted corporation. Time you expand your life and be more than you ever imagined. The good news is that you are a resourceful individual and helping people on a one on one basis can be very rewarding. I also hope you grandfather never had to hide his watch in a POW camp…
Seeing a new SWG article on the site consistently makes my day, and this one’s no different. Tight storytelling and beautiful writing as always.
I’m pulling for you to find land a sweet new gig and keep the wrenching adventures going.
Dude, im sorry about the layoff. Im currently hating Verizon as they are planning to build a 160ft tall cell tower about 600 feet from my house. I hope they crash and burn.
And the thing about the rotor, that’s nuts. Once you have all of that apart, how much more labor could it be to swap the rotor? And they dont cost much, at least not on a Silverado. Its almost like he was just trying to difficult. Good luck out there.
“We’re looking towards an AI-first future, but in the meantime we’re letting go the people with the hardware skills to make AI last.”
Don’t lose their phone number, they’re being as short-term foolish with their money as the guy with the brakes (for now).
> Don’t lose their phone number
His name is Stephen, not Rikki, though.
Minimal brake rotor thickness concerns?
That was mentioned in the article.
Sorry to hear about the layoff. Please do write here more!
How much was this clown paying to the body shop to fix this POS? Surely they could find a spot to slip a $25 rotor under ‘shop supplies’ or other misc charges.
Sorry about the layoff. They are an unfortunate fact of life in the Corporate States of America. Last time I was laid off, everyone in the company was taking bets on the date of the layoff.
If one doesn’t do tire-off wrenching on their own nor change wheels at all, I can see how the pads can be ignored ad-infinitium and this sort of situation happens. There’s no shortage of times where I hear wear indicators screaming up a storm from hoopties all the way to 6 figure (when purchased) luxury cars.
That’s a scary truck, I’m glad it’s not on the road near me. But I’ve also been there – refusing repairs or replacements I knew were critical that I just couldn’t afford at the time. I would always come back later and get the work done weeks or months later . . . thankfully I never had anything bad happen. I’m going to assume this guy is cash strapped and not cheap, and it was really cool of you to at least get him back on the road.
Sorry to hear about the layoff – but good karma has a way of repaying itself.
This truck is the reason I won’t even do auto repairs for friends and family.
Take this truck, but substitute 40% of the under-vehicle steel for rust. They’re coming to you because nobody reputable will touch the thing and they will blame you when a suspension arm crumbles or a running board collapses when you try to jack the car up.
So sorry to hear about the layoff! Sucks in so many ways!
Hopefully you find some way soon to make enough to keep food on your table, clothes on your back and a roof over your head, whether it’s something like wrenching and writing about the same that you love or some not so great corporate slog that at least pays a living wage.
This “we’re replacing workers with AI” seems like one of those trends that will likely eventually bite many companies in the behind. I certainly hope so anyway.
This timeline sucks in a lot of ways. Where’s my time machine?
Been there, done that, twice. I feel for you, this is why every time a company pretends “we are a big family” I throw up a little in my throat. In terms of the repair, this is where the “freedom” attitude in this country makes no sense to me. We will allow anyone to put others at risk with no oversight or real consequences.
Luckily crashes caused by mechanical failure are a very tiny portion of all crashes like 1% or less caused by passenger vehicle mechanical failure. There was an article on it a few months ago here I forget by who.
Yeah, crashes caused by mechanical failure are so rare that IT HAS ALREADY HAPPENED at least once to the vehicle with the current owner driving! Why wouldn’t it happen again?!?
In a country of 360,000,000, 1% is still over 3 million imbeciles. Yea I agree it’s more likely to happen again to this guy. I just disagree with his “freedom” stance on two grounds.
1) that crashed caused by mechanical failure are rampant and need to be regulated more than they are.
2) That there is no oversight or real consequences. there is consequences currently, repair costs, tickets can be issued by cops, insurance increases, jail.
You need to refuse jobs like this. Think you have financial problems now? Wait until this guy hits and injures somebody and you as the one who installed the brakes gets sued. I’m assuming you have no garage liability policy, so they will go after your assets. With this article you just admitted for posterity that’s you knew the work you did was unsafe. You have zero chance of winning a court case if something goes wrong.
Well, he was technically working under the body shop as a subcrontractor (or close enough that he could hide behind that if there’s a problem).
I can’t understand someone who wants the bodywork fixed but is willing to ignore the brake problem.
Incorrect.
The brakes worked perfectly when the truck left; there’s no warranty/liability on labor or parts. Especially for a for-hire, mobile mech, day labor job.
I verified the brakes were working when the truck left and when the article was written. Advising of a potential unsafe condition that may or may not occur someday in the future does not admit wrongdoing “for posterity”, whatsoever.
Nobody can hold the last person that wrenched on their vehicle liable for an infinite amount of time and intimate miles after each repair.
Everyone would be suing the last mechanic that touched their car for every fender-bender that occurs in America, daily, which there is a massive number of, everywhere.
Also, the article (along with text messages and calls sent to the customer, in addition to having a first-person witness in Chuck) clearly stated that the repair was done to the customer’s wishes, and that there were potential/possible mechanical concerns for the future, with the rotor.
Communicating to the customer that there are additional parts to replace and additional repairs to perform does not in any way admit guilt via an unsafe repair or wrongdoing whatsoever.
This happens in every repair shop, in every state, around the country, every day.
Please spare us the half-baked, nonsensical, doomsday legal ramblings.
Also, this site isn’t really the place for such negativity. If that’s your thing then please take it somewhere else.
With Comments like the one above, I don’t think anyone’s going to be sorry to see you leave.
> intimate miles
Apt for a truck with issues stopping.
Comments like that are why we need a downvote button.
Or how about a 1 to 5 star rate-the-comment feature?
Layoffs suck, but can have a silver lining. I was “let go” at a family-owned restaurant when they brought in a new manager, who replaced almost everyone with his friends. (I was 16 at the time.) Three days later I had a new job that paid 20% more, and came with union benefits and regular raises. It allowed me to move out at 18, and work my way through college, and then start the profession that I have been enjoying for more than 30 years. Hang in there, mate. You have a talent for writing and wrenching and probably a lot more stuff. Just keep your expenses as low as possible and go for what you really want to do.
You knowingly sent out a car with defective brakes. Nothing is going to change that now. I hope for your own and everyone who shares the road with any future customer of your’s sake, you’ll think about this the next time and not do it again.
Again, what you are positing as factual is patently false.
The brakes were not defective, that is a fact. They were working 100% when the truck left the shop. I knowingly sent out a truck with working brakes and advised of additional repairs that would be needed sometime in the future.
I hope for your sake that you stop jumping to conclusions and positing assumptions and conjecture fact as you probable won’t be here in the Comments on this site much longer if so.
That rotor was completely unsafe and dangerous. We both know it. It didn’t “need future repairs”. It wasn’t worn a few thousandths below manufacturer’s spec. The entire face of the rotor was gone. If you are going to operate as a business with paying customers, you have to assume liability for your actions.
More conjecture.
There is no “operating as a business”. There is no Tax ID, and there’s no LLC for any mobile repair business; this was 160 bucks cash payment to slap a caliper on a truck.
The right rear rotor needs replacement and that was documented and communicated to the truck owner.
You have no idea about the condition of the other three rotors or calipers or pads the condition of any other system on this truck, and neither do I.
How did the seat belts look? Was the airbag system working, how about the ABS? How about the condition of all the tires? How about the age of the spare? How are the fuel delivery hoses? Were they leaking? How about the cooling system? Is there a fire risk? How about the outer tie rods? The steering system? The ball joints?
To claim that anyone who does any task on any car is legally liable for any system failure at anytime in the future is false and intellectually lazy.
This constant negativity and berating is not in the spirit of this community, not in the spirit of the site, and has been brought to the Editor’s attention.
The title of your article is literally “working as a mobile mechanic”. I’m trying to convince you not to do unsafe work to protect yourself. But that seems to be falling on deaf ears. I guess we are done here. I have nothing else to say.
Doing a job as a mobile mechanic doesn’t mean I’m running a business. That’s not how it works.
If I fix the drain on my mom’s kitchen sink, I’m not automatically running a plumbing business.
If I mow my neighbor’s lawn for $40, I’m not running a lawn care business.
This is just conjecture upon conjecture from you.
You sure don’t have anything else to say; enough of this self-righteous, arrogant/ignorant, negative, judgmental drivel.
And should you value being able to remain here in the Comments, you should probably stop berating and chastising the writers.
I don’t think that’s how it works, he was not negligient in the way he installed the single part he was paid to install.
T
Thank you Space!
Very logical of you and I appreciate you backing me up here.
The above really isn’t in the spirit of the site and is heavily frowned-upon.
Mercedes swings The Ban Hammer when needed!
Absolutely, you always have my support. I’ve read every article of yours. I have been critical with some of the authors here before (especially about statistics) but being accusatory is unnecessary.
Oh, Stephen. This stinks on ice. I wish I had a Verizon account so I could cancel it. When I was very young teachers told us not to fear future automation because it would mean more jobs for everyone. I never believed it for a second.
I had one of those calls after 15 years with a company.
I was literally the first US employee for a European manufacturer.
Built them up to a prominent position in the market, then they took a buyout from a big player in the industry (on the back of my efforts). Two years later I could have moved to Michigan or I could take a relatively generous severance and part ways.
I had literally been to the homes of all the directors at one time or another. I had driven with one of them in his TVR and another in his Delta Integrale.
Ten years ago and I’m still quite bitter about it. I still guess it’s better than being replaced by pure unadulterated bullshit (AI). The worst thing is that everything you have done on that laptop was used to train your bullshit-shaped replacement. Is there any way you can sell the laptop to an anti-bullshit journalist? May be worth more to them than Verizon (also, FUCK Verizon in general).
That’s gutting to be made redundant that way. I wish you the best in your search for a new job. If anyone has good karma and deserves to find something fast, it’s you.
Thanks for the warning about people making bad repair decisions.
The first layoff always hits hardest, but you have a community to support you which goes a long way.
I worked for what eventually became Verizon for 26 years, also starting at NYT. I survived 52 rounds of layoffs before retiring in 2014. It was constant anxiety. I felt it again in your opening. Best of luck, sounds like this will hopefully be a great opportunity.
My aunt was able to retire from Nynex. Her daughter is still barely somehow retaining employment at the Yellow Pages (seriously – I don’t understand either) after Verizon split that entity off while it still had some value and saddled it with a lot of their debt that they were looking to get off their books. If I remember correctly, the obligations were mostly pension-related (remember pensions and retirement?)
When are we going to burn it all down?
As Homer Simpson once stated if you don’t have brakes you’ll never have to be worried about being late. I’m paraphrasing of course.