Don't Loan Your Stuff to the Wrong Person

[pdub]

Here it comes, a real live bitch-fest.

There was a guy who used to live across the street from us, next door to Superman. I'll even say his name, Joe, because he's so far gone, to Arizona or somewhere. This is the guy who had the kids who genuinely terrorized the neighborhood. Joe went off to North or South Dakota to work on an oil drilling rig and the wife called him back home, she couldn't contain the kids. Yeah, no shit. Really? Like you could contain them when Joe WAS there.

Anyhow, Joe was a friendly guy up front, but don't loan him anything. He asked Superman for a racing helmet for some kind of an event. Months later, SM said give me my helmet back. Joe did, it had been dropped and cracked and who knows how it got so damaged. I should have learned from that story.

Joe asked to borrow my limb trimmer, the electric chainsaw on a long fiberglass pole to reach up into trees and, well you know. He didn't want the pole, he just wanted the saw. That was years ago. Last month I was under the house looking for the saw. I asked Unit, she knows where everything is. She said, "You loaned it to Joe." Oh no. That's gone.

He borrowed the driveway attachment for the pressure washer. I was alert that time, I made him give it back to me. And I put it under the house, at least I got it back. So now I'm interested in using it, but it's ruined. How can you mess up one of these? But it's going in the trash, gone tomorrow morning.

[Thumpin455]

I stopped loaning my trailer a log time ago. It always came back messed up. Always. Now it needs rebuilt, fenders rusting off, tires torn up, wheels and axes bent, and it always came back with the safety chains having been dragged. If I borrow something, it comes back in the same condition or better. I tend to rent things from people rather than borrow them. Still have a neighbor I owe for the use of his tractor, but he hasn't needed anything in return. He knows I will help out when he needs it.

[Deaf Bob]

My car trailer is kept at the farm... Son's friends always wanna borrow..
Buddy's trailer same deal.. Brought back with fenders bent shitless, when I borrowed it to take 2 derby cars to an event, smoked the tires 5 miles..
Lucky I had extras and smaller.. I'll fix it for him.. Parks it at the farm too..
Smart? Keep a "load" on them.. When borrower comes, loaded! Sorry, no..
Like Todd, my old one was ALWAYS brought back broke.. Last time frame was tweaked..
Mostly lights broke off!
There were 3 guys I loaned stuff to. One is still alive ...
Kid is learning..."Not mine? No need be careful!"
He loaned MY car trailer, thought I'd not catch on.. It was easy! One ramp was bent.. Howthefuk do you bend 3 ft long ramps ade from welded angle iron ??

[pdub]

I'm not loaning a damn thing to anybody ever again. Well, except for Superman. He can have my shirt and I'll never ask to get it back.

[Loren]

My end with the SCTA team I was working with a while back came when they borrowed my trailer, brought it back fully f'd up 'cause apparently they didn't know how to use a trailer, and refused to fix it because I should admire them so much for being racers. Lol, bye.

[SuperBuickGuy]

I've been burned plenty of times, weeds out the undesirables.

[pdub]

I've been burned plenty of times, weeds out the undesirables.

But isn't it the whole range of emotions? " Why sure, Joe, you borrow my (whatever)." That feels good. But then.....

I'm not one to borrow stuff. I don't even want to. Superman has always said you need THIS (some goop in a tube dispenser) and I'll back away. Just let me know where I can buy that. I'm not comfortable with borrowing stuff, I don't want to bum off of anybody. But I'm comfortable with loaning stuff. Used to be, but not anymore. That's over.

[malc]

I had a no loan policy for years.....then the misses
persuaded me to lend pliers to the man on the corner.
I told her "I've just kissed them goodbye."
After three days I aked after my pliers.
He told me he had broken down the day he borrowed them.
Got out his toolbox.....fixed the car and drove off leaving his toolbox, tools and my pliers on the side of the road.
He had a full toolbox but no pliers..beggars belief.

I bought the double album Electric Ladyland the day of it's release.
A few days later a friend aked to borrow it.
Came back with what looked like a punch mark on the intro track, it was big.....
He obviously had'nt a clue as to how, when or why.

[ratpatrol66]

Only loan to those who I trust and respect, and that is a very short list of people. There are also limits on what gets loaned. No way will I ever loan my welder out. Not with stickers like these! Your going to pay me to weld stuff, and I will do house calls for the right price.

[SuperBuickGuy]

But isn't it the whole range of emotions? " Why sure, Joe, you borrow my (whatever)." That feels good. But then.....

I'm not one to borrow stuff. I don't even want to. Superman has always said you need THIS (some goop in a tube dispenser) and I'll back away. Just let me know where I can buy that. I'm not comfortable with borrowing stuff, I don't want to bum off of anybody. But I'm comfortable with loaning stuff. Used to be, but not anymore. That's over.

Everyone gets burned, but yet no one is perfect so unless we want to live a completely solitary existence; we have to take chances. Sometimes those chances make life better. An example:

Scotty's Castle, in Death Valley California https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotty%27s_Castle
The owner knew Scotty was a turd, yet derived endless entertainment - but also had to credit Scotty for making him healthy again (all while Scotty was trying to pull the wool over his eyes)....

[Loren]

Yeah Scotty's Castle an interesting story that way.

... There are also limits on what gets loaned. No way will I ever loan my welder out. Not with stickers like these! Your going to pay me to weld stuff, and I will do house calls for the right price.

That's basically what I say, rather than loan a tool I offer to just come do the job for some-type fair trade...the prospective borrower usually, after some squirming and whining, declines the whole deal over his frustration for not just getting something for free like he wanted.

Here's a couple more old non-favorites (rant alert): A neighbor who happens to be an electrical contractor borrows our lawn tractor, kind-of an inexpensive hardware-store machine but works OK. The next morning I'm out in the yard and there's this noise coming from up the street, like a mechanical gear-meshing whirring noise. It goes on and on, steady. After seriously over twenty minutes of this I start to pay attention...that's the sound the tractor (Briggs & Stratton 12hp) makes when you go to start it. I hoof it up the street, into our borrower's driveway and there sits his brother-in-law/employee who we know from sad experience to be an utter moron, on the tractor with the key turned and just daydreaming into space, running the starter (plastic gears!) on and on, the throttle shut instead of at the position marked "start" where it's opened up but the choke engages. For nearly a half-hour he had sat there doing that, never questioning, I couldn't believe that battery was still working or the starter didn't melt although it must have been close to it. What the hell are you doing?! Why are you even on this, I didn't loan it to you! He wakes up, glares straight at me and fires back in his best annoyed defense-mode: "IT DOESN'T WORK!"

Another contractor, coolest guy in town, plays in a band, does land-speed racing and builds hot rods. Girls love him. He needs a 3/4" S&D drill bit to make a hole in an old frame. I know what problems he's going to encounter and start to explain how to work it. Big holes in old thick metal can be tough and there's some techniques especially if you're hand-drilling (not in a drill press). The guy is utterly offended. DUDE...I'm a CONTRACTOR, he says, like I'm some sort of idiot. He knows what he's doing! He doesn't need my advice. With me in the middle of a sentence he literally turns and walks away with my $16 drill bit.

Days go by, I don't get my bit back. I start to mention it, nothing, and weeks pass. Finally I really get on the guy. Where the f is my drill bit, do I have to just go out and buy another one 'cause he's not going to give me mine back?

He finally shows up with it. Fried, the entire last inch of it completely ruined. Can't even be sharpened, I've never seen a bit that had been through what that one had. What kind of f'n dumbass would it take to wreck a cutting tool that badly, I don't know He sees how sorta-shocked I am and just like lawn-mower-guy, what's his defense? Why, fire back of-course. He even had nearly exactly the same line, blaming the tool, blaming me for being the owner of the tool: "IT DIDN'T WORK"!

Any normal guy with some humility should look at the mess he made of the item, have some slight thought that maybe whatever the cause he oughta return back the same-condition item he borrowed and go to the machine supply and get another $16 bit for me. Glamour-boy here, no-way, he's much to cool for that. Just give me back the unusable wreckage and turn away. Who gets to pay for the new tool? I do. Oh-well, last I knew he had been in his house over 20 years and still owed more than it was worth.

[Monster]

Don't Loan Your Stuff

nuff said ...

[SuperBuickGuy]

the world is full of reasons not to help... help anyway. If Search and Rescue depended on the quality of the person being rescued, there would be a lot of skeletons in the forest.

[Deaf Bob]

I break, I fix or replace.

Kid who rented a friend's apt tried to pull the wool over the friend.. Carl ain't dumb. He knew exactly how much rent was owed and what was paid
Few years later kid needed a job, applied at Carl's buddy's outfit.. It was all on Carl.. He says, "Give him the job"
I was giving Carl crap about that.. He simply says "The kid now feels like a bigger ass"
I gotta rebuild my/my son's crawler starter.. Son needs the cat. Took time off work to do stuff. Carl takes the one out of the backhoe, "Bringit back when you get your's fixed.. Gonna make sure he has decent brushes and bushings before giving back!
Over the years I have been amazed by the people thinking they can screw Carl.. Why? He'll give you the shirt off his back!
My kid and I are 2 of the few who go to his hidden oasis...

[Loren]

the world is full of reasons not to help... help anyway. If Search and Rescue depended on the quality of the person being rescued, there would be a lot of skeletons in the forest.

Hell yeah, rescue their ass, not for us to judge when someone's in trouble with life and health. Just don't loan them your lawnmower afterward...