Old Trucks

While walking around at lunch I remembered two friends. They both bought old oil field trucks. They were both old Ford f150 straight 6 trucks. One was a long bed and the other was a short bed. One guy bought the truck that was running and had a paint job. The other bought the truck with a dead transmission and was beat to death..

The running truck cost $2000 or so and ran for about six months before some real problems showed up. He had to scrap it after deciding the expense was too much. He was like me and did not know much about hands on fixing things on vehicles.

The non running truck cost $1 and about $100 for a stick transmission and some other parts from a junk yard to get running. The second truck ran for years, getting more and more rusty every time I ran in to the guy. I don't think he ever did much work on that truck beyond maintenance.

It never fails to amaze me how much it pays to understand things like home and vehicle repair. It is worth the effort of learning and practicing. I know this in my conscious mind, but I just don't bather doing it. What is wrong with me? The opportunity cost is negligible. The result is my paying too much for people who do learn to come out and fix things. Is this just the way of things?