Large corps have always been driven by management fads. The behavior
exhibited by captains of industry in the past decade has been
apallling, and that is by no means limited to high-profile sits like
Enron and Tyco. Greed rules, assholes abound.

It isn't thus everywhere.

I visited my favorite metal yard today to buy some bits for a little
"honeydo" project. I love going to that place.

I was after 80 feet of 1/4" steel rod and maybe 12 feet of 3/16" dia
stainless rod.

I showed up in the warehouse where I knew the CRS and stainless are
found. A young man, yard guy, said he'd be with me momentarily if
I'd like some help. I said I would and I wasn't in any hurry. He
disappeared to help someone else that was there before me. I knew
he'd be back or another yard guy would eventually happen by. I've
been there before.

These guys sell many tons of metal every day. The yard and
warehouses are hockeygames of forklifts zooming around, cranes
loading 20-ton flatbeds, etc My biz is a fleafart to them.

They still treat me nicely, go figure!

I found the stainless rod myself, no problem. When the young man
returned, he asked me if I'd measured it. I said no, but it looked
close enough. (It'll be used to make charcoal rails for my Weber).
He dug a Phase II micrometer ouf of his jeans and miked it. That's a
first! They usually carry a tape, but I'd not seen 'em use a mike
before. Yup, it's 3/16", or .186 anyway, close enough. It was a
ball-end mike, obviously for measuring tubing wall thickness and not
easy to measure rod with but no problem. Eyeball was close enough for
me today.

Then he asked if I wanted CRS or HRS 1/4" rod. I said I intended to
bend it into shapes, asked which he thought might be best. He said
the HRS tends to be "milder" than the CRS. I didn't know that!
Hokay, HRS it is. That's out in the yard, but he'd make me a ticket
for the stainless. (A "ticket" is a scrap of paper scribbled upon
with whatever writing instrument is at hand)

Out to the yard. Another guy asked if I needed help finding anything.
I said 1/4" rod. Yup, right over here. (75 yards over here). I
knew it came in 20 foot lengths, asked if he could cut four of them
in half for me to make them easier to haul in a pickup. Yoo bet, no
problem. He made out a ticket and handed it to me, the presumption
being that I'd go to the office and settle up while he did the
cutting. That's how it works there.

I thought HRS all had mill scale on it, like angle iron and
rectangular tubing. Wrong! This rod had no mill scale at all.

After another guy was done settling up for several thousand dollars
worth of steel, I presented my two tickets to the cheerful, friendly
and pretty-good-lookin' cashier. Clerks at most retail
establishments can barely make change, not so with this young woman.
She rattled the equivalent of "War and Peace" on a keyboard at
gatling-gun speed, told me my total was $16.72 or whatever it was.
She did not have to consult her screen to make change for a 20. While
she was rattling away we joked about the price of steel (rect steel
tubing is yegods) and why that might be, some political content.
No charge for one cut per stock length. I may not be the only guy
with a half-ton pickup rather than a 20-ton flatbed.

Went back out to the yard to pick up my steel. The guy asked if I
wouldn't like him to blow the stainless rod in half, then. "It
doesn't burn real well, but it melts real easy." "Oh, golly, I
guess I could just bend it over my knee and fit it in." (In
Minnesota, it's not polite to accept a favor or a little lunch on the
first offer, even if it's inevitable.) "Yoo sure? I could blow it
real easy." "Well, golly, that would be nice if you could do that."
It took 3 seconds.

I do enjoy visiting the metal yard. The folks there are much nicer
and more competent than those found in most retail stores, and it's
such a wonderful candy store of metal!

"Don Foreman" wrote in message
...
snip-------

I do enjoy visiting the metal yard. The folks there are much nicer
and more competent than those found in most retail stores, and it's
such a wonderful candy store of metal!


Of all the things I left behind when I moved from Utah, my association with
Affiliated Metals rates right at the top. They are long gone from the
scene as they were, having merged with a larger corporation some time ago,
but I still have fond memories of driving to their warehouse, where I was
always greeted by everyone, including the office staff, and permitted to
rummage the entire warehouse, picking out that which I needed, getting
their help when necessary. I would then weigh my selections (typically
small pieces of stainless and or aluminum, "rems" , from which I generally
built tooling for my main customer, then write my own invoice, sign it, and
leave without them having to spend their time with me. I can't tell you
how honored I was to have their trust.

Yep, I agree. The level of professionalism I found at that "candy store"
was far above average. To me, it was like going home to pay a visit. I
can honestly say I miss those days.

Thanks for a great report, Don.

Harold

I do enjoy visiting the metal yard. The folks there are much nicer
and more competent than those found in most retail stores, and it's
such a wonderful candy store of metal!

Don,
What's the name of your favorite place? On north second or Broadway in
Minneapolis by chance? I've been to three different yards in that area, you
could be talking about any of them. They are all infected with "Minnesota
Nice"

Karl

Sure sounded like my usuall small lot supplier on north 2nd street.
Right down to the descrition of the clerk.

Karl Townsend wrote:

I do enjoy visiting the metal yard. The folks there are much nicer
and more competent than those found in most retail stores, and it's
such a wonderful candy store of metal!


Don,
What's the name of your favorite place? On north second or Broadway in
Minneapolis by chance? I've been to three different yards in that area, you
could be talking about any of them. They are all infected with "Minnesota
Nice"

Karl

Very nice, Don! Thanx for sharing.

Bob (about to go steamboatin') Swinney
"Don Foreman" wrote in message
...
Large corps have always been driven by management fads. The behavior
exhibited by captains of industry in the past decade has been
apallling, and that is by no means limited to high-profile sits like
Enron and Tyco. Greed rules, assholes abound.

It isn't thus everywhere.

I visited my favorite metal yard today to buy some bits for a little
"honeydo" project. I love going to that place.

I was after 80 feet of 1/4" steel rod and maybe 12 feet of 3/16" dia
stainless rod.

I showed up in the warehouse where I knew the CRS and stainless are
found. A young man, yard guy, said he'd be with me momentarily if
I'd like some help. I said I would and I wasn't in any hurry. He
disappeared to help someone else that was there before me. I knew
he'd be back or another yard guy would eventually happen by. I've
been there before.

These guys sell many tons of metal every day. The yard and
warehouses are hockeygames of forklifts zooming around, cranes
loading 20-ton flatbeds, etc My biz is a fleafart to them.

They still treat me nicely, go figure!

I found the stainless rod myself, no problem. When the young man
returned, he asked me if I'd measured it. I said no, but it looked
close enough. (It'll be used to make charcoal rails for my Weber).
He dug a Phase II micrometer ouf of his jeans and miked it. That's a
first! They usually carry a tape, but I'd not seen 'em use a mike
before. Yup, it's 3/16", or .186 anyway, close enough. It was a
ball-end mike, obviously for measuring tubing wall thickness and not
easy to measure rod with but no problem. Eyeball was close enough for
me today.

Then he asked if I wanted CRS or HRS 1/4" rod. I said I intended to
bend it into shapes, asked which he thought might be best. He said
the HRS tends to be "milder" than the CRS. I didn't know that!
Hokay, HRS it is. That's out in the yard, but he'd make me a ticket
for the stainless. (A "ticket" is a scrap of paper scribbled upon
with whatever writing instrument is at hand)

Out to the yard. Another guy asked if I needed help finding anything.
I said 1/4" rod. Yup, right over here. (75 yards over here). I
knew it came in 20 foot lengths, asked if he could cut four of them
in half for me to make them easier to haul in a pickup. Yoo bet, no
problem. He made out a ticket and handed it to me, the presumption
being that I'd go to the office and settle up while he did the
cutting. That's how it works there.

I thought HRS all had mill scale on it, like angle iron and
rectangular tubing. Wrong! This rod had no mill scale at all.

After another guy was done settling up for several thousand dollars
worth of steel, I presented my two tickets to the cheerful, friendly
and pretty-good-lookin' cashier. Clerks at most retail
establishments can barely make change, not so with this young woman.
She rattled the equivalent of "War and Peace" on a keyboard at
gatling-gun speed, told me my total was $16.72 or whatever it was.
She did not have to consult her screen to make change for a 20. While
she was rattling away we joked about the price of steel (rect steel
tubing is yegods) and why that might be, some political content.
No charge for one cut per stock length. I may not be the only guy
with a half-ton pickup rather than a 20-ton flatbed.

Went back out to the yard to pick up my steel. The guy asked if I
wouldn't like him to blow the stainless rod in half, then. "It
doesn't burn real well, but it melts real easy." "Oh, golly, I
guess I could just bend it over my knee and fit it in." (In
Minnesota, it's not polite to accept a favor or a little lunch on the
first offer, even if it's inevitable.) "Yoo sure? I could blow it
real easy." "Well, golly, that would be nice if you could do that."
It took 3 seconds.

I do enjoy visiting the metal yard. The folks there are much nicer
and more competent than those found in most retail stores, and it's
such a wonderful candy store of metal!

"RoyJ" wrote in message
. net...
Sure sounded like my usuall small lot supplier on north 2nd street.
Right down to the descrition of the clerk.

Karl Townsend wrote:

I do enjoy visiting the metal yard. The folks there are much nicer
and more competent than those found in most retail stores, and it's
such a wonderful candy store of metal!


Don,
What's the name of your favorite place? On north second or Broadway in
Minneapolis by chance? I've been to three different yards in that area,
you
could be talking about any of them. They are all infected with
"Minnesota
Nice"

Karl





Mine's a small yard. Flora Steel. The guy that runs it always has a scowl
like he's just bitten a lemon. Always warms up and like to talk, though.
The guy that does most of the yardwork is massive, but he's got bad feet
that hurt him constantly. Two fat, lazy yellow dogs laying around the
office and the lady cashier is also very competent. I'll have to say that
she ain't purty. Great folks and I love to give them my business.

Garrett Fulton

I like going to the steel yard, and the rem pile. You can stand there and
see many different shapes of different metals. Then your imagination kicks
in, and you think of what you can make out of it.

Don Foreman wrote:
Large corps have always been driven by management fads. The behavior
exhibited by captains of industry in the past decade has been
apallling, and that is by no means limited to high-profile sits like
Enron and Tyco. Greed rules, assholes abound.


True indeed; I bet that if I went out to buy rod around here It's more
likely I'd end up getting the shaft - from some counter guy or yard bird
whose command of english was so poor that it would take me at least
three tries to exchange each bit of information.

Judith and I still rave to people about our exposure in 2001 to
"Minnesota Nice", when we toured around your lovely state and also had
the pleasure of meeting you "offline".

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia

(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)

"Truth exists; only falsehood has to be invented."

On Wed, 01 Jun 2005 09:05:45 GMT, "Karl Townsend"
remove .NOT to reply wrote:

I do enjoy visiting the metal yard. The folks there are much nicer
and more competent than those found in most retail stores, and it's
such a wonderful candy store of metal!

Don,
What's the name of your favorite place? On north second or Broadway in
Minneapolis by chance? I've been to three different yards in that area, you
could be talking about any of them. They are all infected with "Minnesota
Nice"

Discount Steel and Aluminum. It's on Second Ave N., north of
Broadway a few blocks. It's easiest to enter from Washington Ave, a
block west of second.

A couple of the others used to be no fun at all, but I think the guys
at Discount set a new standard.

On Wed, 01 Jun 2005 11:55:31 -0400, Jeff Wisnia
wrote:

Don Foreman wrote:
Large corps have always been driven by management fads. The behavior
exhibited by captains of industry in the past decade has been
apallling, and that is by no means limited to high-profile sits like
Enron and Tyco. Greed rules, assholes abound.


True indeed; I bet that if I went out to buy rod around here It's more
likely I'd end up getting the shaft - from some counter guy or yard bird
whose command of english was so poor that it would take me at least
three tries to exchange each bit of information.

Judith and I still rave to people about our exposure in 2001 to
"Minnesota Nice", when we toured around your lovely state and also had
the pleasure of meeting you "offline".

There must be some nice people in New England also, though Boston
does seem to have an attitude. I'm surprised that you and Judith
haven't been able to reform them!

Sounds like the local yard I go to.
Sometimes I go and get a couple of hundred dollars wrth the steel, next trip
a buck or two. Either way I get the same good service and a hard time to go
with it! I walk in the door and the owner will joke, "Here comes money bags,
we can lock'er up for the day after all the money he will spend!" Then I buy
my $1.95 worth the steel, joke around some more and hit the road. They are a
bunch of good guys, just full of B.S.!
Greg

On Wed, 01 Jun 2005 02:10:15 -0500, Don Foreman
wrote:

Large corps have always been driven by management fads. The behavior
exhibited by captains of industry in the past decade has been
apallling, and that is by no means limited to high-profile sits like
Enron and Tyco. Greed rules, assholes abound.

It isn't thus everywhere.

I visited my favorite metal yard today to buy some bits for a little
"honeydo" project. I love going to that place.

Large snip

I do enjoy visiting the metal yard. The folks there are much nicer
and more competent than those found in most retail stores, and it's
such a wonderful candy store of metal!

Over the years, I've found that "working people" are generally a
pleasure to deal with.
Gerry :-)}
London, Canada