Shop Truths, Phrases, Tales; and Outright Lies

[Frank S]

The company I was with while in Kuwait pretty much had started out as a simple sales install and service company with a total staff of 20 .
It all started when they purchased a couple of my freight elevators and begged me to visit Q8 to supervise the install I thought why not after all I hadn't been to Q8 since late 91 while the fires were still smoldering
Anyway There I was with just about nothing to do their installers were top notch and could follow the somewhat meager installation manual I had hastily put together for the lifts prior to shipment.Their Client was the country's most prestigious Toyota body shop. the client's requirements for my lifts had changed from the time I had manufactured and shipped the lifts till the time the install was being preformed.
The client and 3 or 4 of his financial backers came to my hotel room along with the owner of the company who had placed the order with me to ask me if it would be feasible to modify my machines prior to the completion of the install.
Well I was thinking Oh sure, I'm over here supposedly for a 3 possibly 4 day install and now you want me to make extensive modifications my machines that took me weeks to manufacture. When actually what came out of my mouth was no problem, but it is going to be a little expensive to bring my machine shop and equipment over here.
Well couldn't you use a local machine shop and hire some men to help?the client asked Then Saad said that I could have my pick of his best installers The clueless 7 I called them, who incidentally later became and remained the core of my factory staff which grew to over 70 at times with 20 engineers during the 10 years we were over there
So now I'm thinking language problems I don't speak Arabic and no one in Saad's company who speaks English has a clue about mechanical or structural engineering terms.
But none the less the next day Saad's brother becomes my personal chauffeur we are on a mission like he has never heard of in his life I need to locate a jobber type machine shop and steel supplier a shop with a shear and break an industrial supply and some placer to purchase some UHMV or tough nylon as they called everything
Additionally We had to locate a suitable facility to rent where I could do do my fabrication
6 weeks later the 2 lifts had transformed from 3 ton cap. to 5 ton and instead of going from the ground floor up 5 meters to the mezzanine they went from the basement up 6 meters to the ground floor ( I got lucky there as I had made my hydraulic cylinders over-sized with a longer stroke than originally necessary because I had the materials in stock) with drive through capability while the platform was at ground level with numerous added automatic safeties and barrier guards.
This was in the late fall of 2002, before the bullets had started flying up in Iraq in early 03 my wife and I had relocated to Q8 with a 45 ft High cube container filled with enough of my equipment to start up a small factory.