As a tradie, making sure my van works is obviously pretty important. It can get hard to get to a job if my van doesn’t start, and I know that from personal experience. It actually sucked. Last year I got in heaps of trouble because I couldn’t get to a job and it made us lose the work. My boss was ropeable and ever since I’ve made sure to get my van serviced properly and pretty regularly.
It’s the work van anyway, so my boss pays for it. Which makes even more sense as to why he was angry. Well, tomorrow I’m doing the right thing and taking the afternoon off to take the van to the mechanic workshop. Ringwood is close to the factory and my house, so I’ll drop it off and then walk back home. I’ll be able to pick it up in the morning and go about my work day with no worries.
I’ve cleared all this with my boss and he’s fine with it. I’m sure he hasn’t forgotten the whole mishap from last year, but he hasn’t held it against me which is good. I’ve made sure to work hard ever since, and I think he’s noticed that. He’s pretty tough on the other guys and they didn’t even stuff up with their vans like I did… all hell would break loose if they didn’t look after their cars.
Well, I just got back to the factory after picking up my van this morning. I had to give my boss a pretty solid bill, seeing as it turned out that my van needed a brake pad replacement. I was pretty relieved that I actually got it checked out, that would’ve sucked if my brakes stopped working when I was driving.
I’m glad my boss and I are on good terms now. I definitely learnt my lesson and it turned out to be a pretty good life lesson: always get your car serviced, especially when someone else is paying for it.