So, six days in and I've had my first bad day. The spectre of having to weld TheSuperCamp, nay, learn to weld TheSuperCamp has hung over me from the first instance. Today it arrived.
When you go to view a vehicle there is a certain amount of bravado and shrewd performance. You and the seller have to size each other up. From the walk up the drive, to the handshake and polite small talk, you set about working out how much the other knows about vehicle valuation. As the buyer, you are also wary of someone knowingly trying to offload a banger.
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, the "Shall we have a look then" is the signal for the vehicle walkaround to begin. Under the watchful gaze of the seller, it is now your time to shine.
Rule number 1- Never give away the fact you have fallen desperately in love with the vehicle from the moment you saw it on eBay.
You must appear cool, unimpressed, casual. Each gesture is designed to deflate the seller's confidence in his asking price. You must tap the chassis with a wince, squeeze a rubber pipe with a look of disappointment, you must go out of your way to find a patch of rust and scratch it. At this point you may take the liberty of glancing at the seller, not for too long! careful, don't ham it up too much. Just long enough for him to know that you know he knows. (of course neither of you know what there is to know, but you start to suspect that the other knows something you don't ah..the battle has begun)
Buyer: Alright mate Oh god, oily overalls...this is a bad sign
Seller: How you doing? I think the overalls have worked. Hope I haven't overdone the oil
Buyer: Not bad, not bad. Took me a while to find it, but.... where the hell am I?
Seller: You got a TomTom? It's quite hard to find
Buyer: Nah, just checked the map. How did I still get lost with TomTom??
....and so on.....
Seller: Shall we have a look then? Here we go. I am a powerful, confident man, repeat...
Buyer: Yeah, let's see it. I am a powerful, confident man, repeat...
Seller: She's a great runner Nice work on the 'she', I sound like a ship's captain
Buyer: Mmm (non-commital) My god, how could man create such a thing of beauty!
Seller: Low mileage I've really got no idea what that would constitute
Buyer: Mmm (unconviced) Sweet metal Adonis, where for have thou been!?
Seller: No rust Please don't see the rust
Buyer: Oh no, here's a bit YES! here we go, scratch it and....LOOK! got him!
So where does TheSuperCamp come in? Luckily JennyFromHatfield was lovely and I'm still in contact with her. The point is I saw how much welding had to be done when I first went to see it. Today I tried my first weld and now the amount of work ahead of me has grown substantially in my mind.
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