Just remembered the time I bought a generic hoistway door lock tool that snapped on the first job, costing me about $80 and half a day.

I mean, it was a rush job in a downtown office building and I had to drive clear across town to get the proper Otis part, which just made me miss the old supply houses that actually knew their stuff, you know?

2 comments

2 Comments

rowanellis1mo ago

My uncle ran a small hardware store for forty years, he could find any obscure part just by rummaging in the back. When he retired, the new owners cleared all that old stock in a week, sent it straight to the dump. That kind of knowledge just vanishes, and now you're stuck driving across the city for a simple piece of metal. Makes every job take twice as long.

perez.christopher1mo ago

Tell me about it. I once bought a cheap universal key for those old panel boxes. Thing bent like a paperclip on the first turn. Had to explain to a building manager why I was stuck in his basement, then wait two hours for the real part to show up. That's the hidden tax of all this "convenience", you end up wasting a whole afternoon.