Through out this website, I have stated numerous times, why I do not like to loan out things or borrow things and decided to create this page to rationalize aka (self-justification) in my defense.

The bulk of this short story will be a copy and paste from my short story smoke generator I made sometime around 06-21-2016, of which brought to mind a Greenlee hole punch set that I loaned out to a local Amateur Radio Operator, (now deceased) and for the record, it was not Jack Teal!.

GOING BACK IN TIME TO THE 1970s

The above Greenlee 3/4 inch diameter hole punch along with a Greenlee 5/8 inch diameter hole punch were loaned out to a local ham radio operator (now deceased) back in the 1970s and it took nearly thirty (30) years, maybe longer asking him to return them without success.  I finally embarrassed him in front Bill Donathan, proprietor of Smith's Cleaners one day while picking up some clothes and followed the dude home across town and took possession of my hole punches.  He had no trouble finding the hole punches and knew exactly where they were.  He did not have any intention of ever returning those hole punches.

I have had very bad luck over the decades loaning out tools and various things of which many I never got back loaned out as early as 1964 being a set of York barbells, dumbbells, extra 45 lb. weights and have received all kind of excuses as to their current whereabouts.  The guy never offered to pay or replace my items, of which he himself loaned out!

I loaned a book that was a study reference for the FCC commercial maritime radio exam while I was in the US Navy about 1967 to a Senior Chief Petty Officer about to retire who was killed in a private airplane crash, of which I never got the book back.

Around July 1967, I loaned an Electronics Technician who worked at our duty station about 50 bucks +- to purchase a large Penn ocean salt water fishing reel, of which he was going to send me the money since I was about to depart Morocco for duty in Norfolk, Va.  You guessed it, I never heard from him again!   I trust people far too much.

I still remember two animal live traps, steel jaw traps, trapping books and manuals, archery and knife making books, post hole diggers, short handle shovel, car jack, etc., that have acquired new homes never to return.....grin if you must!  The animal live traps and steel jaw traps were destroyed/damaged in his Dad's barn fire.

I loaned two (2) kerosene portable heaters to one family member and a non-family member during a severe ice storm, of which there was an extended power outage.  Those never made it back to me.  I might have told the family member to keep theirs, but not sure.

I loaned a DeVILBISS EGA-502 spray gun out to a fellow employee and when I finally got it back, the threads for the air gage and/or air fitting were stripped out and had to replace the entire spray gun.

I had a "friend" , (now deceased) store a 400 pound +- Universal brand commercial food mixer in his out building/barn before 1989 and when I went to get the heavy mixer years later, he could not find it in the barn, imagine that!  It took both of us to load and unload the large floor model mixer using an incline wood ramp.  That was the end of that "friendship" as far as I was concerned.  His spouse was upset because I didn't attend his funeral.

It took over fifteen (15) years to get a fly fishing book back from one of my cousins, (now deceased) and was badly worn with water stains.

I also loaned a White's Electronic Metal Detector (High Dollar Unit) to a Brother-in-Law and got the metal detector back, but not the charging supply.

The above are some of the things I remember and I am sure there are others.  Family and friends are the culprits because I doubt you would loan something to a stranger!  You can also use the same analogy when loaning aka giving away money!  "Experience is a tough teacher, but the lessons learned stay with you forever."  I got a chance to vent and that is a good thing to do every once in a while without getting belligerent and bellicose; I had much rather grin instead!

I remember a couple trades back in the mid 1970s when I had my musical parts and accessories mail order business and did a set of inlays for a well known musician and banjo builder (now deceased) in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia.  He was pleased with the inlays and offered to trade a piece of curly maple wood for another set of abalone inlays.  I shipped the inlays to him and never got the curly maple banjo neck wood and he never responded to my letters or telephone calls.  He has been dead quite a few years.  To not be confused with my friend Davis Kennedy, the man's first name was Andy....

Also, there was an individual in Narrows, Virginia that did some machine shop work for one of my friends Davis Kennedy, (now deceased) in Athens, West Virginia and was highly recommended.  I had my friend trade him 300 dollars worth of parts and/or banjo inlaid fingerboard and pegheads that I left with him who delivered the items to trade for building me a stainless steel drill fixture for the Gibson pre-war tube.  Never got the drill fixture, however my friend offered to pay for what his friend did not deliver, but I told him "No", it was the other persons responsibility.

There are many dishonest people and sooner or later you will get some experience from dealing with them!  I still have that archived unpaid invoice dated 06-03-76 in my friends file from West Virginia of which I sent the invoice to the person that lived on Rowland Street there in Narrows, Virginia which was a wasted postage stamp.

MOST RECENT RIP OFF

I guess my most recent rip off was in early 2008, whereas I sent one of my custom calls to a man in California to trade for him doing a video of him using the call; a type of instructional video to post on my website. 

He was impressed with the call, however I never got a video from him with several excuses, etc. and finally lost contact with him.  I have an audio file of him playing one of his Neil Cost calls he had for sale on EBay linked here.  Seems like I am a "blue fin sucker" and trust people far too much, but being raised in a Christian family, one does trust people.  Working in a Prison environment for 33 years will manifest human nature, the negative carnal side for sure! 

Leaving this paragraph on a positive note, I have some friends that I have loaned things to and received them back in a timely manner, but that is the exception to the rule and I certainly do respect individuals of that moral character and fiber.  

THE BEST 35 DOLLAR INVESTMENT TO DATE

One of the best investments I made in the early to mid 1970s was repairing a fellow musician's Gibson flat top guitar, replacing the bridge and after the repair and receiving only partial payment, he still owed me about 35 dollars, not exactly sure of the amount, but think I am correct.  Before finishing this investment story, I played Dobro guitar with his part-time band and one Sunday, the guy showed up with a couple car loads of the band members and their families unannounced and stayed the entire day.  My bride used up a weeks worth of groceries trying to feed the hungry crowd and there were several young kids with them too.  Their kids tore up our son's favorite music box and had our kids toys strewn out in the back yard and field.  

After that infamous visit is when I did the guitar repair for the band leader whose nickname was Doc..  I was still working with the NC Telephone Company and when I would have to travel to Matthews, NC for something job related, I would stop by his home and small antique business there in Waxhaw, NC on Highway 73 and before I would get to their front door, I could see the curtains move and knew that someone was home and his station wagon was also in the driveway, however he never came to the front door!  He was a well known musician there in Waxhaw, (now deceased) for many decades.

I never saw the guy after that guitar repair and that is one of the best 35 dollar investments I have ever made.  I also loaned them several LP vinyl Bluegrass albums and forgot about those until now!

WHY I DON'T LOAN OR BORROW ANYMORE

The above are some of the reasons I do not loan out items anymore and avoid borrowing things as well, because most of the time when you borrow something, it inevitable will break down on you.  Murphy's Law never sleeps.

Therefore, please don't ask me to loan you anything......grin if you must or frown!

PS This is the first page I have created since my broken arm of 04-19-2021, whereas I crashed this website two (2) times trying to drag and drop files to the server using my left hand.

In summary, I certainly don't hold any grudges or ill feelings toward those that never returned the items borrowed, but chalk all of it up to part of Life's experience!

Web page published by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 09-14-2021.