Post by Dave on Feb 7, 2010 11:14:08 GMT
Just around the corner from where I live the once busy and thriving garage and shop has stood empty for a few years now and was falling into the normal decay when buildings are left empty and abandoned.
It started life as just a garage with a small shop but in later years the old workshop was converted to make a much larger shop and car repairs were ended and just the petrol pumps still in use. The shop was also the local post office and was always very busy as was the shop especially in the mornings as workers called in for their papers and snacks etc to take to work.
Over the last twenty years the shop had seen many new owners and the nail was put in the coffin when the post office closed down its counter at the shop. They also closed down the one in the very small shop near the BMW garage at Collerton St Mary and as a result that shop has also now closed down and the nearest post office to me now is the one at White Rock, maybe the reason I stopped buying and selling on Ebay.
The whole building really was starting to look a real eyesore and I’m sure if we had not gone into a recession in this country, then it would have been knocked down and a block of flats would now be standing there.
Then two months ago I noticed someone had been doing some painting and making the building look a bit better, I thought maybe the council had demanded the owners smartened up the place a bit as they do have the powers to get owners to keep their buildings in a reasonable condition.
Then signs appeared and all became clear as the forecourt was being used as a hand car wash business and one small part of the old shop had some chairs put in it and was being used as a sort of waiting room. I have driven past many times and saw the men at work hand cleaning cars and knew they were not English and admired these men’s enterprise at a time when everything else seems to be closing down or going out of business.
I knew one or two family members had used the service and were very pleased with it, but I did not see myself using it as I always wash my car at work, but I ended up using it on Saturday and have to say what a great hard working bunch of men they are.
When I got to Toolfix at 5.30am on Tuesday I took one look at my van and simply did not want to drive such a dirty looking vehicle, it is almost impossible to keep cars etc clean at the moment and when I got back on Tuesday the van looked as dirty as it did the day before,
Still I decided I was going to clean it before I hit the road and I use a long handled brush that can be extended so you could use it to clean upstairs windows while still standing on the ground, the reason I got that one for the company is that it was well built and my mate Roger the owner of RM Tools in Taunton did me a very special price.
Halfway around the van in the semi darkness I only went and broke the brush off the pole so I had to finish off cleaning the van on my hands and knees. Looking for somewhere to put the broken brush head I clearly did not have my thinking head on and just inside our building was a very large and expensive Dewalt saw that has a lot of MDF wood on it.
I just plonked the brush on there and forgot all about it and then went on a nice drive around North Devon, only unknown to me all the water and soap from the brush soaked into the MDF and I can tell you they are very very expensive to replace. When I got back in the afternoon I soon learned my boss had to spend some time with heat guns trying to get the water out of the MDF boards and spent ages sanding them down as best he could to remove all the water stains. Thankfully for me he did not make an issue out of it and all I could do was say how sorry I was and I really just felt what a daft fool I had been.
The inside of my car was unusually dirty and so yesterday I decided to spent sometime getting to the high standard I normally keep it to and still not being as well as I should be I think I wore myself more than I expected and didn’t fancy then doing all the outside, so I drove to the new hand car wash.
Just £5 for a car and wheel wash and these guys put in so much effort and it really is such good value for your money. When my car was finished and it was time to pay I asked them what country they came from, I do not have any real experience of people from other countries and would never have been able to work out where they came from.
They said they were Kurds and then when they saw my puzzled looks said they were from Iraq and we ended up having a chat and a few laughs and I left feeling what great people they were.
So if you car is dirty and you don’t feel like washing it yourself, go to the hand car wash on the Totnes Road close to Paignton Zoo, you won’t get a better job done anywhere for just £5.
It started life as just a garage with a small shop but in later years the old workshop was converted to make a much larger shop and car repairs were ended and just the petrol pumps still in use. The shop was also the local post office and was always very busy as was the shop especially in the mornings as workers called in for their papers and snacks etc to take to work.
Over the last twenty years the shop had seen many new owners and the nail was put in the coffin when the post office closed down its counter at the shop. They also closed down the one in the very small shop near the BMW garage at Collerton St Mary and as a result that shop has also now closed down and the nearest post office to me now is the one at White Rock, maybe the reason I stopped buying and selling on Ebay.
The whole building really was starting to look a real eyesore and I’m sure if we had not gone into a recession in this country, then it would have been knocked down and a block of flats would now be standing there.
Then two months ago I noticed someone had been doing some painting and making the building look a bit better, I thought maybe the council had demanded the owners smartened up the place a bit as they do have the powers to get owners to keep their buildings in a reasonable condition.
Then signs appeared and all became clear as the forecourt was being used as a hand car wash business and one small part of the old shop had some chairs put in it and was being used as a sort of waiting room. I have driven past many times and saw the men at work hand cleaning cars and knew they were not English and admired these men’s enterprise at a time when everything else seems to be closing down or going out of business.
I knew one or two family members had used the service and were very pleased with it, but I did not see myself using it as I always wash my car at work, but I ended up using it on Saturday and have to say what a great hard working bunch of men they are.
When I got to Toolfix at 5.30am on Tuesday I took one look at my van and simply did not want to drive such a dirty looking vehicle, it is almost impossible to keep cars etc clean at the moment and when I got back on Tuesday the van looked as dirty as it did the day before,
Still I decided I was going to clean it before I hit the road and I use a long handled brush that can be extended so you could use it to clean upstairs windows while still standing on the ground, the reason I got that one for the company is that it was well built and my mate Roger the owner of RM Tools in Taunton did me a very special price.
Halfway around the van in the semi darkness I only went and broke the brush off the pole so I had to finish off cleaning the van on my hands and knees. Looking for somewhere to put the broken brush head I clearly did not have my thinking head on and just inside our building was a very large and expensive Dewalt saw that has a lot of MDF wood on it.
I just plonked the brush on there and forgot all about it and then went on a nice drive around North Devon, only unknown to me all the water and soap from the brush soaked into the MDF and I can tell you they are very very expensive to replace. When I got back in the afternoon I soon learned my boss had to spend some time with heat guns trying to get the water out of the MDF boards and spent ages sanding them down as best he could to remove all the water stains. Thankfully for me he did not make an issue out of it and all I could do was say how sorry I was and I really just felt what a daft fool I had been.
The inside of my car was unusually dirty and so yesterday I decided to spent sometime getting to the high standard I normally keep it to and still not being as well as I should be I think I wore myself more than I expected and didn’t fancy then doing all the outside, so I drove to the new hand car wash.
Just £5 for a car and wheel wash and these guys put in so much effort and it really is such good value for your money. When my car was finished and it was time to pay I asked them what country they came from, I do not have any real experience of people from other countries and would never have been able to work out where they came from.
They said they were Kurds and then when they saw my puzzled looks said they were from Iraq and we ended up having a chat and a few laughs and I left feeling what great people they were.
So if you car is dirty and you don’t feel like washing it yourself, go to the hand car wash on the Totnes Road close to Paignton Zoo, you won’t get a better job done anywhere for just £5.
I bet your boss had an idea just where you could put it Dave! 