Thought I'd give this thread a bump!
I recently retired as a full time Route Tech after 27 + years. The industry has changed drastically and I'm relieved to be out of it. I could go on and on, but here are a few stories ...
- Had a call on Black Friday from a multi screen movie theater about a smoking Sopranos Pinball. We were lucky the manager noticed it right away and knew what it was. Lucky nobody pulled the fire alarm on one of the busiest nights of the year over a fried pop bumper coil and transistor.
- We went in circles with a tavern over a randomly malfunctioning CD Jukebox. Redneck joint in the country that only turned on the juke when they were busy on weekends. It would play the wrong songs, credit wrong, etc. The outlet was good, and we even were able to plug it into a different outlet, so we'd change the CPU, then 3 weeks later it would happen again. We'd change the CPU and Player, then a month later, same crap. Change the power supply, CPU, and player, then 6 weeks later, same thing (and yes, the "bad parts" seemed to work fine in the shop). The owner is getting pissed now, so we change the entire jukebox with a known good one. A month later, same shit. I'm walking up the steps in the rain to face the now furious owner and patrons on another busy Friday night, when I notice a crackling & sizzling sound coming from the transformer for the 30-40 foot neon light that ran along the roofline. That sizzling and snapping transformer was mounted just under the gutters a few feet up and directly behind the Jukebox! Had them shut off the neon light and the troubles went away. We moved the jukebox to the other side of the bar and it worked great until the bar owner decided to buy his own equipment and kicked us out.
- Was changing the power supply in a upright video game. Had it pulled out from the wall, and working thru the back door. Nobody in the gameroom so I had the coin/cashbox door still open while I worked. I hear the gameroom door open, then 30 seconds later, there's a oblivious kids hand reaching into the cashbox...He left in a hurry after getting an earful.
- Kids are curious and will climb over your toolbox to see what you're doing. You've got to be pleasant yet firm and very careful with what you say and how you say it or they run to mommy and you're the bad guy. I learned this the hard way.
- The threatening message from the tavern owner with a jammed cigarette machine has been replaced by the threatening mommy who's little pumpkin just lost money or didn't win the prize.
There's a few stories for now, let's hear some more!
