PennSilverTaco's "Perfect 5-Lug Regular Cab" Build, Aspergers, and General BS MegaThread!

Charlie.....it's ok to say bitch!

 

September 30th, 2009:



September 30th, 2017:




Odometer reading before I left home on September 30th, 2017 (I believe my Tacoma had 20 miles on it when we drove it off the lot)…




The 1996 Nissan Pathfinder SE 4x4 we traded for the Taco...



What supposedly happened to the Pathfinder after we traded it in was a tragedy; The Pathfinder had some rust on the running boards as you can see, and it had it's share of dents, scratches, and other imperfections; However, it was mechanically sound, ran and drove great, and everything worked! The A/C was ice cold, the heater and the factory heated seats worked, and all power accessories worked. It only had like 113K miles on it and it had thousands of dollars in new parts just since 2005 (suspension, tires, small engine parts, Alpine CD player, etc). It failed emissions testing in 2007 for reasons my dad can't remember, but this truck was solid. It worth maybe $4,000 at most. Peruzzi put it on the used car lot and it was gone less than a week later...

My dad recently found the original window sticker and I ran the VIN through CARFAX. It turns out my beloved Pathy was repossessed about 8 months after the second owner purchased it, and then the trail goes completely cold after 2011, in the Fairless Hills area. This more than likely means the Pathfinder is still rotting in some tow yard somewhere. The question I still ask myself is this...

WHO IN THE THE BLOODY HELL FINANCES A WORN OUT 13-YEAR OLD USED VEHICLE WITH OVER 100K MILES?!?!

I'd take the SEPTA bus before I financed such an old vehicle, and save up my money while doing so!




It just makes me so mad because the Pathfinder was in decent condition at the time of trade-in. It probably could be made roadworthy again with relatively little work, but its fate was totally avoidable...

 

I've seen contracts where people have financed absolute piece of crap cars for "low monthly payments" at 19.99% interest. The bottom line is shocking, but all they see is that for $150 a month they have transportation.

 

What really sucks is a friend of mine was looking for cheap transportation had the roughly $3,000 my dad would have taken for the Pathfinder, in cash. However, I didn't learn she was in the market until AFTER we bought the Tacoma. I told her to call Peruzzi Toyota and see if they still had it, but it had been sold by then.

 

And what also sucks is that my Pathfinder most certainly not a piece of crap. It was a bit beat up but it ran and drove fine. It was so reliable that I would have not hesitated to drive it across the country to California, and back. It just wasn't worth very much and in my opinion not the vehicle any sensible person would finance...

 

And last thing:

My Tacoma had a sticker price of just under $18,000 when new. After negotiating with the salesman and talking the sales manager up to $2,300 from $1,500 for the Pathfinder, my dad got the Tacoma for just under $15,000. He put like $2,000 down, financed the rest at like 2.9% interest, and ended up paying it off like two years early. My Tacoma's current private party value has been varying between $10,000 and $11,000 lately.

I have a clear Pennsylvania title in my name (the truck was a gift from my dad; I pay for insurance and all maintenance), and I have no plans to sell my truck in the near future (if at all).

 

Those Pathys are good little vehicles. I had an 02 before my taco and it got me through college and the regular 700 mile round trip to home and back.

The dealership only wanted to give me 2k for it on trade it for the Taco so my dad ended up buying it for 3k and he uses it as his daily to keep the miles off his truck.


She has black leather, heated seats, sunroof, and is just showing signs of rust on the rear rocker panels. My dad also uses it for surf fishing and pulling the small boat.

 

I'm originally from Levittown! Is Reedmans still up there with the test track ?

 

You mean in Langhorne? Yeah.

 

@Plain Jane Taco
@HomerTaco
@ChadsPride
@DustStorm4x4
@ABA180
@ChadsPride
@newb13

I met the amazing woman who would eventually become not only my boss, but one of the best friends I've ever had, sometime in 2011. My boss moved to Pennsylvania in late 2010 for a change of scenery. Her story is very interesting in it's own right, but this is my story. We'll fast-forward to April 2011 when she started working at Puck as the assistant manager. My friend with the band had been a regular customer since 2009. I turned 21 in March 2010 and thus became legal to enter Puck, but I did not visit the place for the first time until August 2010 or so...

By the time my future boss came into the picture, I'd been a regular customer for more than six months (possibly closer to a year). My friend/future boss started working there in April 2011, and I got my driver's license in May 2011.

My Tacoma played a significant role in how I ended up meeting the woman who would become one of the best friends I've ever had and eventually become my boss and mentor...

Once I got my driver's license, I of course drove myself to Puck. Prior to getting my license, my mom or dad would drop me off and I'd get a ride home with one my friends (most often the bassist/keyboardist/vocalist in my other friend's band, in his 2002-2003ish Kia Optima). Back then, I only went to Puck on Open Mic nights and didn't drink even one beer if I was driving. Open Mic Night was and still is every Wednesday unless stated otherwise (Reasons for cancellation have included storms, power outages, and major acts performing).

I DO NOT remember when exactly I met future boss/friend/mentor, but I know it was well after I got my license because I drove to Puck by myself that day...

It was definitely prior to Labor Day Weekend because the patio generally does not open on Wednesdays after Labor Day.

So, here's how it went...

There are two "manager's spots" on the property. Since the managers never seemed to use them, and other employees rarely used them, I was basically told that if they were open, I could just park there. I did this without incident for a month or two...

 

@Plain Jane Taco , I'm posting this story in shortened sections so it isn't as tiring...

@HomerTaco
@ChadsPride
@DustStorm4x4
@ABA180
@ChadsPride
@newb13


UPDATE: As my memory comes back to me, I realize that this COULD NOT have been any earlier than September 2011. It was after Labor Day, but before October. My boss started working there as assistant manager in April 2011, and I got my driver's license in May 2011. I'd been coming there just about every week since August 2010, with the exception of December 2010-March 2011 because the place was closed for renovations during that time. I also spent more of my summer on vacation than hanging out at the bar. Since I only came there once a week and my boss was still assistant manager, it makes sense that I didn't see her until 5 months after she started working there. I do remember quite well that the sun had gone down and it was starting to get dark, which would indicate that it was sometime in September. Nowadays, the patio bar does not open on Tuesdays or Wednesdays after Labor Day, and I was just a somewhat regular customer back then so of course I didn't know their hours. The schedule has changed a lot just since I started working there in 2014, and even more in the six years since I first met my boss...

Now, BACK TO THE STORY: I arrived at Puck at dusk on a Wednesday, pulled my Tacoma into the manager's spot closest to the patio, got out and proceeded to go inside. Right after I got out of my truck, this fiery young Asian woman who I'd never seen in my life appeared out of nowhere, ran up to the fence around the patio, and started yelling at me about how it was her spot and I had to move my truck. Seeing as I'd been told by another longtime employee of the venue that I could park there, I'd never seen this woman before, and she was being rather hostile in my opinion, I started arguing. I did ultimately end up moving my Taco to another spot nearby after a minute or so of arguing...

As I was walking back to the bar from the parking lot, another longtime employee (a bartender who left in 2015 or so to go to nursing school) came up to me at the patio and said something like "Charlie, I wouldn't argue with her if I were you. She's the new manager."

My "oh shit" senses started tingling, and paranoia set in...

I was afraid I'd be kicked out for the night at best, and banned indefinitely at worst. I approached this new manager and immediately into full ass-kissing mode; I apologized for acting like a dick, once again explained that I sincerely thought I was allowed to park there, and rambled on about how this bar/restaurant was one the only places in the area for which I had any respect left. To show that all was good, that she wasn't mad, and that I didn't need to worry, the new manager bought me a drink. It wasn't until a few years later that my friend and future boss told me exactly what was going through her mind at that moment...

 

Probably someone who isn’t financed by mom and dad and has real bills to pay.

 

@Plain Jane Taco
@HomerTaco
@ChadsPride
@DustStorm4x4
@ABA180
@ChadsPride
@newb13

My boss did not initially know that I specifically had Asperger's Syndrome. She says she knew from the moment we got into that argument over the manager's spot that something was different about me, but Asperger's and other Autism Spectrum Disorders did not immediately come to mind...

However, she admits that before I came to apologize, she did think I had some sort of mental problem or developmental disability. When I sought her out to apologize and explained things to her, her respect for me shot up quite a bit. "For starters," she said at one point in 2015 or so, I was one of the first people she'd met who "had the balls to stand up to her and question her authority," and not in a rude or condescending way either. When I questioned her authority, I unwittingly put my "take-no-bullshit" attitude on display and she said liked that in a person. She also said that when I came back to apologize, not only was I "not retarded" and "actually quite smart," but "I had the potential to be smarter than her." I still don't think I told her I had Asperger's until 2014 or 2015 though, but she did briefly major in education in college before changing her major, so when I told her I had Asperger's, she knew exactly what it was...

So, I officially became "cool" with the woman who would eventually become not only eventually become one of the best friends I've ever had, but also one hell of an awesome boss, and a mentor and role model as well. However, it was several months before we became what I would consider "friends"...

 

@Plain Jane Taco
@HomerTaco
@ChadsPride
@DustStorm4x4
@ABA180
@ChadsPride
@newb13

I would also like to point that my boss is just 4 months younger than me; We were both 22 years old when we met for the first time; she barely out of college, and she was managing a restaurant and music venue with not one or two, but three bars!

As the months flew by, she became quite fond of my friends and me. By spring 2012, I was an official staff member of my community college's award-winning newspaper, The Centurion. I got an idea; Why not write an article about my favorite hangout, and get it published? My journalism professor and the newspapers editor-in-chief immediately greenlighted the idea.

I remember perfectly the day I met with my friend and future boss in her office to pitch the idea. My angle was this; "I write for the newspaper at my college, a college which has quite a happening music scene; If I write an article about this place, musicians who attend my college will read it, come to check out, play open mic night, and more than likely buy booze. I'll interview you, the owner, a couple of the bartenders, the sound guy, and the booking agent." I also said something like "Heck, even the ones who aren't musicians are always for new places to hang out and drink. You get free advertising, I get an article that, and the house gets some more money!" My friend and future boss said she loved the idea and gave me her blessing.

And so began the process of interviewing people. I started with my new friend the GM, interviewing her right in her tiny office. Next came an interview with the owner, and I interviewed her in the backyard of her home on a day she happened to be babysitting her grandkids. I also interviewed the bar manager (no longer there), the sound guy (still there), a Grammy-nominated producer and adjunct college professor who did a music TV show in the Venue, and the guy who was our booking agent at the time. I got a good grade on the article when I handed it in, but the end of the semester was approaching fast and there were many other articles in line to be published.

Fast-forward to October 2012. An article surplus had become an article shortage, and I had a suggestion; Why not run the article about my friend's bar/music venue that I'd written last spring? The professor and the editor-in-chief read the article, refreshed themselves, and approved. My article then went to the editors for a few tweaks, and it was finally published on October 25th, 2012. The picture included with the article is also my own work; I photographed the company van, a 1999 GMC Safari that has sadly since been sold, in the alley in front of the venue.

The day the article got published was a very exciting one. I roared onto the alley in front of the club in my Tacoma, slammed on the brakes, threw it in park, and jumped out in such a hurry that I shut the seatbelt in the door. All the while I was shouting "My article got published! My article got published!" I had a huge stack of newspapers and I immediately started handing them out to everyone present, including a few perfect strangers who I'd never seen before but happened to be drinking at the patio bar that night. Everyone loved it. My friend and future boss was bartending that night, and she of course read it and loved it.

The chef at the time (no longer employed there) was known for being a bit of a jerk (an understatement). He read the article right there in the outdoor kitchen, and even though nothing specifically about him had made it into the final version of the article, he loved the article so much that he bought me dinner on the house! I say once again; this particular chef was known for rather unpleasant, but my article moved him enough that he paid for my dinner!

The owner ended up loving the article so much that she had a copy framed (though due to renovations the article has not been hung in the venue for quite a while). I was already fairly well-liked prior to the publication of my article, but that article made me damn near famous!

 

@Plain Jane Taco
@HomerTaco
@ChadsPride
@DustStorm4x4
@ABA180
@ChadsPride
@newb13

It didn't take my friend and future boss long to figure out that I knew my way around a camera; I became the bar's unofficial photographer and YouTube publicist.

The same night I shared my article with the staff, a former friend of mine happened to be at the bar. Why we are no longer is friends is not important, but I will tell you that his actions on that particular night had nothing to do with me eventually disowning him. What is important is that nobody really cared for this particular person. As I said above, my future boss was bartending on the patio that night, and I was proudly showing off my article and petting my future boss's new puppy (please read below). This soon-to-be ex-friend thought it would be a good idea to come up behind me, put his hand on my shoulder, and yell "Hey, Charlie!" All of my family and friends, him included, knew that sneaking up behind me and surprising me was a bad idea, but he did it anyway. I damn near jumped out of my skin when he did that, and I whirled around and said "Jesus Christ! Don't do that!" That was actually one of my calmer responses to being startled, but regardless, everybody including my future boss saw it happen. My former friend had decided to mess with someone in a bar, and the general manager, at least one other bartender, and about a half-dozen half-drunk patrons who had all witnessed it were giving him the death stare. Needless to say, my former friend walked away in shame after correctly assuming aloud that "nobody liked him." Unfortunately, he went to downstairs to the venue where he proceeded to get into a profanity-filled argument with the open mic host before storming off into the night.

A few minutes later on that same night, my future boss took me aside and with this really serious look on her face said, "Charlie, if he does that to you again, I'm going to kick his ass." Keep in mind that my boss is a petite 5'3" Asian woman, and my ex-friend is a huge 6'2" guy, and she was ready to pound him. I jokingly said "I'd pay to see that," but I could tell by the look in her eyes that she was absolutely serious.

One of the things I love about my boss is that she really does care about me and sees me as more than just a mere employee. She also has a decent understanding of Asperger's and the various shortcomings that come with it, and she really does not like it when people mess with me or otherwise take advantage of me. We've had more arguments and disagreements about stupid shit than I care to remember, but in my opinion arguments and disagreements are a healthy part of any relationship. The verdict: It's one thing if we get into arguments and push each other's buttons from time to time, but my boss does not take kindly to other people taking advantage of me.

About the time my article was getting published, my future boss bought a puppy. I remember the first time I met the aforementioned puppy, a female Boxer/Lab mix. I came to the venue one night for Open Mic, and I immediately noticed this adorable puppy at the patio bar. Thinking this was a customer's dog (as my boss's friend was holding the leash and my future boss was nowhere to be seen at the moment), I couldn't resist going over to say hello. I quickly found out that this adorable puppy belonged to the general manager, which meant I'd probably get to see her anytime I wanted! I immediately bonded with my future boss's new puppy, and she (my future boss) of course took notice. My boss told me that there would be times she would be too busy to walk Tully due to her work schedule, and if I wanted to go to her apartment and walk her, that would be greatly appreciated. How the hell could I resist? In addition to walking the dog, I also fed the dog, and did other odd jobs at the bar; My future boss started to compensate me by buying me dinner and the occasional beer when I came to her bar for open mic night, and also letting into shows for free without paying the cover (for an unemployed Aspie college student with no money; this turned out to be a blessing in disguise and did wonders for my social life and social skills). Beginning in the summer of 2013, whenever I was bored on a Friday or Saturday night, I'd hop in the Tacoma and drive to my future place of employment. I'd have 1 or 2, maybe 3 beers over the course of the evening, all carefully spaced out. I typically went out around 8pm 9pm, and head back home anywhere between midnight and 1:30am, by which time the small amount of alcohol I'd consumed was well out of my system and I was safe to drive. I've also prided myself on never driving drunk. I've driven after drinking plenty of times before, and there was one time where I was probably close to the legal limit, but I've never driven drunk.

So, long story short: I took care of my friend's dog while she was busy at work; It just so happened that my friend was the general manager of a popular bar, so in exchange for taking care of the dog and running errands for her, my friend bought me food and alcohol, and let me into shows for free! Not a bad arrangement!

 

@Plain Jane Taco
@HomerTaco
@ChadsPride
@DustStorm4x4
@ABA180
@ChadsPride
@newb13

Fall 2012 (Continued):
In November 2012, my future boss invited me to her 24th birthday party (She's barely 4 months older than me). If anything is a sure sign of friendship, being invited to a birthday party definitely is.

So, first we ate at this restaurant called Heart of Oak that was right down the street from my parents' old house. A few of the guests went home, but the party continued at a bar right around the corner from the bar where I presently worked. I had a few beers and a shot, and everyone else got a lot drunker.

2013-2014:
Throughout 2013, I started doing odd jobs and running errands for my future boss. In October-November 2013 I had two failed jobs in a row, at Dunkin' Donuts and Gross' Gourmet, respectively. In 2014, I continued to schlep my way through life hanging out at my favorite bar and helping out in exchange for various kickbacks.

Beginning in about August-September 2014, I started spending record amounts of time with the woman who would eventually become my boss. In addition to walking her dog and helping her out around the bar, I started hanging out with her boyfriend and other friends, drinking with them on weekends and doing other stuff.

Anybody who knows anything about the bar business, and the service industry as a whole, knows that Thanksgiving Eve arguably is the biggest drinking night of the year, surpassing New Years' and St. Pat's in terms of sheer customer volume. The reason for this is because all of the college students have come home for the holidays, and this otherwise unassuming Wednesday night is the perfect time to get hammered with friends before spending Thanksgiving with family.

On Thanksgiving Eve in 2014, My boss requested that I help her prep for the upcoming rush, and on that particular day it was snowing. It was hardly a blizzard, but it was an unusual for late November, even in Pennsylvania. It was even sticking to the ground, and the road (and my Tacoma, and the company van). I drove into town, and my future boss asked me to come with her to a restaurant supply place just across the county line. The former company van was a 1999 GMC Safari with all-wheel drive and a factory G80 locker, so it was much better suited to running errands in the snow than my 2WD Taco. My friend and future boss drove (with an out-of-state driver's license that expired the next day), and I rode shotgun.

At one point during this trip, I noticed a particularly unpleasant odor and commented that "something smelled like rotten eggs." She asked me if I farted. I responded with "If I farted, do you really think I'd be drawing attention to myself? If I really did fart, I'd keep my mouth shut and hope you didn't smell it, and then blame it on you if you did smell it." She said something along the lines of "Very true."

At another point during this trip, while we were stuck in holiday traffic, "Come on Eileen" by Dexy's Midnight Runners came on the radio in the van. This happens to be one of her favorite songs, and she immediately turned up the volume and started singing along. We were barely moving, so she took out her iPhone and snapchatted a picture of us rocking out...

We got to the restaurant supply warehouse and though I didn't realize it at the time, my future boss was training me for solo trips to this place in the near future. We got different items on the list, I helped her load the van, and then we headed back. I'm 99% sure we made a couple of other stops, but I forget exactly where.

Because snow had been in the forecast, my boss rented large tents. She also rented these huge portable propane heaters that more closely resembled jet engines. I worked 7 hours that day, helping my soon-to-be boss and the other staff members set up. At the end of my "shift," we were sitting down at the upstairs bar (no longer there), and she asked me when I'd gotten in that day while she was counting a stack of bills. I said "About noon, I think?" By this time it was about 7pm. She counted out seventy dollars in $10 bills, handed them to me, and thanked me for my help. I had not expected to get paid that much money just to hang out at my, well, favorite hangout and help run errands and set up. I thanked her and she said something like "No, thank you!"

My soon-to-be boss had whipped up a large amount of Long Island Iced Tea, and she and one of the other bartenders were going to sell it in the upstairs bar that hasn't existed in almost 2 years. They dispensed it from one of those rectangular plastic containers with a valve on it, like what you dispense lemonade from at Panera Bread.

I'd never had a Long Island before, so I asked politely and was given a good-sized sample before I went home. Just that relatively small amount of Long Island just about put me on my ass. I had never tasted anything so strong in my life! When I say it put me on my ass, I meant that the volume of alcohol in it took me by surprise. It was a small enough amount that I was still perfectly safe to drive home. I thanked my future boss again for the money and headed home...

Not long after Thanksgiving, my boss offered me a job. We were in the area behind the patio bar where staffers go for smoke breaks. She asked me if I'd like to work for her; starting out at 4 hours a day and 2 days a week, at what amounted to $12.50 an hour. I immediately and without hesitation said yes. We were both unsure of how my parents would feel about me working at a bar, but they ended up being fine with it since I had been a regular customer at said bar since 2010 and was well-liked by not just the staff, but the owners! It was a real job, and the pay was quite good! My boss initially paid me out of her own pocket, with the occasional business check thrown in if I worked overtime or did a particularly big job.

When my boss had the rotting deck at her house demolished in March 2015, the guy who demolished it helped me load the Tacoma with pieces of the deck. I made at least two trips (possibly three trips) to the disposal place, and my boss paid me close to $200 just for driving the remains of her deck to the dump! At the time, I was the only regular employee who had a pickup truck, so I was in high demand not just by my boss but other staffers as well. I hauled booze, furniture, sound equipment, and all sorts of other interesting stuff. Staffers also paid me to haul stuff for them outside of work. For small "in-town" jobs, if cash was not readily available, I was also known to accept beer as payment. Hell, I'll still accept beer as payment! My boss once gave me two cases of beer right out of the cold room! Other items I've gotten in exchange for running errands include a $450 Traxxas remote control truck and a swiveling desk chair.

My job as my boss's personal assistant and errand runner was supposed to be a temporary gig that neither of us expected to last more than year, but my boss enjoyed having me around and I enjoyed working at a bar a lot more than I thought I would. In late 2015 or early 2016, my boss began officially training me as a barback, and by my 27th birthday I was officially on the books. This mean I had a number, could clock in and clock out, and would get paid roughly the same time every two weeks!

NOTE: My official job title is barback, and that's also the job listed on my tax returns, but as my boss says I am really more of a "runner." I do pretty much all of the same stuff as the regular barbacks except helping out behind the bar on extraordinarily busy nights. I am very big but not very graceful, and there is barely enough space for me to fit behind the bar with one bartender. Two bartenders? Forget about it! Like I said, I still do the same stuff as the other barbacks, but I'm also the only barback who has a pickup truck. As such, I am the best choice for going to the liquor store, the grocery store, or the restaurant warehouse to buy mass quantities of whatever the house needs (house meaning the bar where I work, for all the laypeople reading this). One of the other barbacks does own a pickup truck, but it's a 2017 Silverado 1500 Z71 (much bigger than a Tacoma), and he had to move like 3 hours away for his new job at an engineering firm so he only comes in to work on Saturdays typically. This effectively makes me the only regular barback with a pickup. One of the barbacks also works a full-time day job as a carpenter and drives a 2014 Subaru Legacy. The rest of the barbacks don't have full-time jobs but are full-time students, and only two of them go to school in the area. One of them recently totaled his 2000 Subaru Legacy after hitting a deer. The other one just moved out here from Kansas to go to school, and has a valid Kansas license but his only car is a 1962 Ford Falcon located back in Kansas. Sometimes he borrows his girlfriend's car, but he almost always relies on public transportation. One of the bartenders (who has a full-time day job sealcoating driveways) also has a pickup truck (2011 Chevy Silverado), but he only works weekends and is too busy bartending to run errands...

So yeah, I am really the only regular employee with a pickup truck at this point, and this has turned out to be extremely profitable for me!

 

@Plain Jane Taco
@HomerTaco
@98tacoma27

Greetings from Monterey, California!

I have not driven a stick shift in about a year, but look what I drove today!





This is Kermit, my Uncle's 1971 VW bus. He also has a 1977 VW Westfalia.

 

any picture of your cousin with the crashed Benzito?

 

I might be able to you pics of the crashed Benz...

Where the heck have you been?!?! LOL

 

Missed ya bud.

Nah don't need to see a pic of a dime a dozen GLE. They are uglier than a TLX/RLX.