Dont loan out your tools
My friend had a solar system installed at his house by his electrical subcontractor (he was the company owner). They used the company's Ditch Witch to go across his long yard to the remote solar panel location. I happened to visit him while this was going on and I mentioned to his friend how handy that Ditch Witch was and that I would probably rent one to dig a 300 foot trench in my yard in about 6 months. Well, this business owner told me to take his Ditch Witch when they finished the solar panel job and return it in 6 months or whenever I was finished with it. I dug the trench last week (see the photo above). Then I thought how great it was for that business owner friend of a friend to trust me that much with his valuable equipment, and I recalled my father telling me 50 years ago to always return borrowed items in as-good if not better condition, so I figured I had to do this. The starting battery was dead even before I borrowed the machine and the electrician's crew always started it with a hand rope. So I bought a new battery and installed it on the machine. Then I washed the machine and adjusted the chain tension. I also made a new hand pull-rope with wooden handle for it. I made arrangements to return it on this coming Monday and will treat both my friend and my new friend to lunch as a small way to thank them both.
I just made a new friend! The only reason this man trusted me was because he knew my friend was very selective in whom he called "friend". I don't have many friends myself because I too am very selective in calling someone my friend. The people you choose to call "friends" reveal a lot about your own values and standards. If you choose to be friends with bad people, then maybe you are a bad person too. Sometimes you won't really know that a person was bad (wolf in sheep's clothing?) until later, but I choose to not call them "friend" until I feel I know their character first. The new friend in my story above is now in "trial" status, but he made a great start!
My friend had a solar system installed at his house by his electrical subcontractor (he was the company owner). They used the company's Ditch Witch to go across his long yard to the remote solar panel location. I happened to visit him while this was going on and I mentioned to his friend how handy that Ditch Witch was and that I would probably rent one to dig a 300 foot trench in my yard in about 6 months. Well, this business owner told me to take his Ditch Witch when they finished the solar panel job and return it in 6 months or whenever I was finished with it. I dug the trench last week (see the photo above). Then I thought how great it was for that business owner friend of a friend to trust me that much with his valuable equipment, and I recalled my father telling me 50 years ago to always return borrowed items in as-good if not better condition, so I figured I had to do this. The starting battery was dead even before I borrowed the machine and the electrician's crew always started it with a hand rope. So I bought a new battery and installed it on the machine. Then I washed the machine and adjusted the chain tension. I also made a new hand pull-rope with wooden handle for it. I made arrangements to return it on this coming Monday and will treat both my friend and my new friend to lunch as a small way to thank them both.
I just made a new friend! The only reason this man trusted me was because he knew my friend was very selective in whom he called "friend". I don't have many friends myself because I too am very selective in calling someone my friend. The people you choose to call "friends" reveal a lot about your own values and standards. If you choose to be friends with bad people, then maybe you are a bad person too. Sometimes you won't really know that a person was bad (wolf in sheep's clothing?) until later, but I choose to not call them "friend" until I feel I know their character first. The new friend in my story above is now in "trial" status, but he made a great start!
